CAKE OF THE BUDS 55 



floor of the house may, however, be sprayed if the 

 conditions of weather make it necessary, but all super- 

 fluous moisture should be dried up by night, when a 

 dry, buoyant atmosphere must be maintained. Tem- 

 perature is something we cannot control to the extent 

 desirable for the perfect maturing of the blooms; but 

 when the conditions permit of control, a temperature at 

 night of |rom forty-five to fifty degrees should be the 

 aim, as crown buds require a few degrees more heat than 

 is necessary for Chrysanthemums ordinarily grown. 



Changeable autumn weather and warm, humid 

 nights, which often prevail, seriously concern the 

 grower, and adverse conditions must, as far as possible, 

 be met and counteracted. If the outside temperature 

 be low, matters are easy, as an equable inside tempera- 

 ture is easily maintained by fire heat. This should be 

 accompanied with a little air at the top of the house, 

 opening the ventilators about two inches to allow the 

 escape of superfluous moisture which otherwise would 

 condense upon the cool flowers and cause "damping." 

 When the outside temperature is in excess of that 

 desired there must be free ventilation, and on foggy or 

 humid nights, it may often be wise to have a little 

 fire heat to expel some of the atmospheric humidity, 

 even though temperature does not show any necessity 

 for it. The flowers develop surprisingly fast when 

 ideal conditions prevail, such as cool, dry days and pro- 

 portionately cooler nights. Excessive warmth hastens 

 expansion, but at the expense of substance and keeping 

 qualities, so that should the flowers, by any mischance, 

 appear to be a little too late for the date it is desired 

 to exhibit them, it is better to forego the intention 

 than to try to force them with additional fire heat, 

 which can only end in weakened stems and soft flowers. 



Damping of the flowers before they attain 



