CHAPTER VIII 



Care of the Buds 



When feeding ceases and the fast swelling bud 

 ultimately begins to unfold, showing color in the outer 

 petals, the goal of an entire season's effort is in. sight, 

 but there must not yet be any relaxation of attention. 

 Even at this stage the brightest prospects may be sadly 

 marred unless vigilance be sustained to the end in 

 attending to and doing the little things upon which 

 success depends. Above all, the plants must be kept 

 clean. Whatever may have attacked the foliage during 

 the growing season, scrupulous guard must be kept over 

 the buds. They should be forbidden ground for insect 

 depredations. Caterpillars, grasshoppers, green fly, black 

 fly, red spider and thrips are a mighty host, the buds 

 their legitimate prey, therefore the utmost vigilance 

 must be observed. Means and methods of fighting the 

 pests will be found in the special chapter devoted 

 thereto. Water in abundance has been the rule over- 

 head and at the roots, but a time is come when greatly 

 reduced supplies will suffice. 



With the advent of cooler, shorter days, the plants 

 will not dry out nearly so fast at the root, and the 

 aim should be to keep them only moderately moist 

 during the finishing of the flowers. Spraying the 

 foliage on bright days is maintained as long as pos- 

 sible as an antidote to insect pests, but now is the 

 time when it must cease. The swelling buds are 

 depressed in the center so that they would retain 

 water and soon rot if carelessly sprayed overhead. The 



