60 PRESENT-DAY GARDENING 



"TAKING" THE BUD 



The question of bud selection is one of the most 

 important points in the successful cultivation of Japanese 

 Chrysanthemums for exhibition, because it is one of the 

 means the grower can adopt to make sure that his plants 

 will yield first-class flowers at a certain date. In the 

 Midlands and North first-crown buds (the first bud that 

 shows after the plant has made its natural break in May 

 or June as the case may be) of most varieties develop 

 at about the right time for the exhibitions, and with the 

 exception of a very few varieties flowers produced by 

 the first -crown buds are the best, being heavier and 

 more characteristic of the variety than those that may 

 be secured later ; these latter, in some instances, may be 

 a little better in colour, but they lack size. 



In the Southern districts many varieties flower too 

 early for shows held after the first week in November, 

 and so a system of striking the cuttings or of stopping 

 the shoots must be employed to get blooms of the best 

 possible size from a week to ten days later than would 

 be the case if they were allowed to grow quite naturally. 

 March and early April is a time much recommended 

 for stopping many varieties, taking the second bud that 

 appears after this stopping. In many instances this method 

 may be satisfactory, especially with certain varieties, 

 but it has never satisfied me. The plants at this time 

 of the year being small and making only slow growth 

 experience a very great check and, after repeated trials, I 

 have proved that the strongest plants of a batch stopped 

 at this season never recover the lost ground they require 



