60 BOOK OF THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 



bound condition, by the judicious use of stimulants. 

 Any of the fertilisers that have been mentioned pre- 

 viously will do. The buds are taken in the usual way, and 

 if possible all at the same time, as this means so much 

 later. If the blooms do not develop all at about the same 

 period, the plants are useless for exhibition purposes. 

 Of course a little retarding or pushing on may always be 

 resorted to. The final staking should not be carried out 

 till all the buds have been taken, in fact many leave this 

 process till a few weeks previous to the exhibition. A 

 good deal of judgment is required in this matter. The 

 stakes should be pushed into the pot before tying takes 

 place, to form the skeleton, as it were, of the shape the 

 plant is to take, and the growths must be deftly arranged 

 and tied up so that the stakes may be almost completely 

 hidden by the foliage. The plants may look a little dis- 

 turbed for a day or two with the growths and leaves 

 twisted, but they will soon adapt themselves to their 

 new position. As soon as the buds have been selected 

 that are taken, disbudding must be resorted to rigor- 

 ously, otherwise the strength of the plant will soon be 

 diminished, if allowed to make worthless wood or flower- 

 buds. The varieties chosen for this work are generally 

 those of well-known reliable kinds, many of the new 

 editions will not conform to the test. 



