THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 



this happens, the plant will receive a check 

 which will cripple it for the entire season. 

 Therefore be sure to keep it always moist at 

 the root. In applying water use enough to 

 thoroughly saturate all the soil in the pot. 

 Use so much that some runs off through the 

 hole in its bottom. If this is done you will 

 know that you are giving the plant all the water 

 it needs. 



It also likes a good deal of root-room. If 

 kept in small pots too long, it will become pot- 

 bound, and this will give it a check as harm- 

 ful as that resulting from an insufficient supply 

 of water. It is advisable to start young plants 

 off in three-inch pots. As soon as their roots 

 fill pots of this size, shift to six-inch ones. 

 This ought to bring them to the middle of 

 July. Then give another shift — this time to 

 nine or ten-inch pots. In these pots they can 

 be allowed to bloom. 



The above advice is given on the assumption 

 that your plants are kept in pots throughout 

 the season. Many advocate planting them in 

 the open ground in June and leaving them 

 there until about the first of September. This 

 method does away with a good deal of labor, 

 as plants so treated will take care of them- 



185 



