68 GREENHOUSE MANAGEMENT 



ten- or twelve-inch pots, as may be desired. With each 

 shift the amount of manure in the soil can be increased, 

 until finally it is the same as used for the beds. When 

 the plants are eight or ten inches high, according to the 

 distance between the buds, the tip should be pinched 

 out. This will cause the side shoots to develop, of 

 which eight or ten should be allowed to grow. These 

 should be evenly distributed around and along the cen- 

 ter stem. When these are four or five inches long they 

 should, in turn, be pinched back, and from two to four 

 shoots allowed to form on each. While more shoots can 

 be left if desired, a handsome plant will be formed from 

 this number of shoots, and the flowers will be larger 

 and finer than with a larger number. The pinching 

 should be done not later than the first of August, in 

 order to give the plants time to develop their flower 

 shoots and buds. If large flowers are desired, only one 

 flower should be allowed to form on each shoot, all other 

 buds being rubbed off as soon as they form. When the 

 plants are disbudded, all injured and diseased leaves 

 should be taken off, and a number of short stakes of 

 galvanized wire should be set around the plant, to which 

 the flower stems should be tied. In this way they can 

 be trained to form a symmetrical plant. 



Plants in six- or eight-inch pots are also very useful, 

 either for decoration or for sale. They will require 

 about the care outlined above, except that thoy need not 

 be started until April 1st. In order to form compact, 

 shapely plants, the leader should be pinched lower, and 

 not more than five to eight branches allowed to start. 



STANDARDS. 



As show plants and for exhibition, a few standards 

 and half standards are grown. The former have bushy, 

 or umbrella-shaped, tops at a hight of five or six feet 

 upon a smooth, bare stem, while the stems of the latter 



