General Culture. 59 



As soon as the buds commence to form they must be closely 

 watched. This will usually be about the first week in Septem- 

 ber, when the grower will have to decide whether few flowers 

 of fine size are desired or a quantity of small ones. We 

 would advise him to select the large blooms, as a few really 

 fine flowers always command attention, where a number of 

 small blooms would pass unnoticed. If the large blooms are 

 determined upon, one-third or more of the blooms must be 

 taken off. This should be done when they are about the size 

 of radish seed, simply rubbing them off with the thumb and 

 finger, carefully preserving the end or terminal bud. It seems 

 a great waste to do this, but having done it once the grower 

 never regrets it. It is best also to cut away all weak shoots, 

 allowing none of them to flower at all, when large blooms are 

 the object in view. 



While large plants may be produced by the " planting out " 

 system, it is admitted that where neither labor nor expense 

 are considered, the finest forms, truest colors and best shaped 

 flowers are obtained when the plants are grown continuously 

 in pots, this rule of course applying to a climate where it is 

 necessary to lift and pot them in the fall, in order to bring into 

 the house for final development. 



In the climate of the south fine blooms are annually pro- 

 duced by plants that have never been in a pot, and the finest 

 the writer has ever had the privilege of seeing, were grown in 

 the following manner on the grounds of Capt. J. J. Crusman,- 

 at Clarksville, in northern Tennessee : A large pit, 102 by 12 

 feet, was dug about eight feet deep on a slope facing directly 

 south, with a fall of two feet from the back to front wall. 

 This was originally intended to be planted in Marechal Neil 

 roses, but it was determined to grow chrysanthemums in it for 

 the first season. The pit was banked up on all sides and 

 sodded so that nothing but the sash appeared from the out- 

 side. The ground also sloped considerably to the east, and a 



