i88 



Gardening for Amateurs 



and especially in some of the newer types, 

 this is particularly necessary, for the bushes 

 produce large numbers of buds, some of 

 which, if all are left, will either fail to develop 



All side shoots r should 

 be removed from 

 Tomato plants. 



Removing superfluous growths from a fruit tree. The 

 side shoot is also "stopped" as shown. 



or produce individual blooms of inferior 

 merit. When the weather is unpropitious 

 it is wise policy to disbud severely, and the 

 probabilities are that those which follow 

 later on will have a better chance 

 of bursting successfully. In re- 

 moving buds be guided by the 

 plumpness and symmetry of each. 

 Early in the year a system of 

 disbudding is of great advantage 

 to the bushes, since shoots un- 

 likely to prove satisfactory or 

 tending to crowd and stifle others 

 can be removed very easily. In 

 this way the bush is kept open 

 and vigorous, sap is economised, 

 and first-class blooms are ob- 

 tained. Exhibition blooms result 

 from severe disbudding. 



Chrysanthemums. D i s b u d- 

 ding is practised as a fine art 

 by Chrysanthemum specialists. 

 When the plants are struck from 

 cuttings a single stem springs up, 

 and as time 

 goes on 

 branches 

 appear in 

 the axils of 

 the lower 

 leaves un- 

 til a nice 

 compact 

 bush re- 

 sults. Some 

 varieties, 

 however, 

 are slow to 

 send out 

 side shoots, 



and the growing tip of the young 

 plant is pinched out in order to 

 accelerate the act of branching. 

 Xice bushy plants can also be 

 obtained by successive pinching 

 of the shoots, and handsome 

 specimens for decoration are thus 

 secured, but the process must 

 cease early in July, after which 

 the stems are staked out to keep 

 the plant open and symmetrical. 

 The blooms on outdoor Chrysan- 

 themums are, as a rule, much 



