38 THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 



of a few days and a record be kept, the approximate 

 time can thus be learned. 



Buds may appear a week or a few days in advance 

 of the desired date, and if not taken, would 

 throw the next bud altogether too late. In such a case 

 a little careful manipulation will enable the grower 

 to hold the bud almost stationary till the desired 

 period. Instead of removing all the shoots and im- 

 mediately throwing all the plant's energy into the bud, 

 as ordinarily occurs, let the shoots grow an inch or 

 more and remove one or two each day till the best 

 date has arrived for their entire removal. Buds that 

 appear early can often be saved in this way by using 

 a shoot for a short time as a safety valve to check 

 undue forcing of the bud. 



European growers have another method of what 

 they call "timing" the bud, that has not been prac- 

 ticed in this country. It consists of stopping the 

 growth of the plants by. pinching out the growing tip. 

 The object sought is to anticipate, as it were, the first 

 break. The plant stopped does not then develop the 

 break bud, but grows away again and goes on to the 

 crown bud stage. They find merit in the practice, as 

 it enables them to advance the date of the crown bud 

 appearing, thus securing buds of late flowering varie- 

 ties earlier than would occur in the natural course of 

 growth. The need of a large number of varieties at 

 exhibition time probably gave rise to this practice. By p 

 it certain varieties are shown in perfection two or three 

 weeks earlier than they would develop normally, and 

 others, naturally early but stopped and grown on to 

 a second crown, are in a measure retarded. 



Cultural conditions are so different in this coun- 

 try and our plants for exhibition blooms are grown in 

 a period shorter by several months that the need of 



