PREPARING BLOOMS FOR EXHIBITION 



OF all the Chrysanthemum family the incurved section 

 requires the rrfost care and attention when dressing them 

 for show. Many condemn the system of dressing 

 blooms, but I am afraid blooms, especially the in- 

 curves, would soon lose favour with the public if they 

 were shown exactly as cut from the plant, as some 

 suggest. I do not consider there is any more harm in 

 assisting a bloom to develop and show its petals to the 

 best advantage, than there is in thinning a bunch of 

 grapes. Nature can always be assisted in a legitimate 

 manner. 



If a bloom is assisted properly from the time it is 

 about half expanded, very little will remain to be done 

 when it is cut for exhibition. 



Each one that is considered a likely candidate for the 

 show bench should have frequent attention during 

 development. If the petals are found to be too crowded 

 to allow proper promotion, remove the central ones by 

 the aid of the forceps, an instrument all growers should 

 have in their possession. 



Take out sufficient to leave a small clean cavity into 

 which the point of one's finger might be inserted. This 

 will allow the remaining petals to curve inwards to the 

 centre in a more natural manner. 



Sometimes a good bloom will show the " eye " rather 

 early. This means the exposing of the short quill 

 florets said to be primarily due to taking the buds too 

 late, but of this there is some doubt, as it will appear 

 occasionally in the best regulated of plants. These 



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