84 THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 



"This potting is done very firmly to induce a 

 dwarf, sturdy growth. The plants are placed again on 

 the greenhouse bench, watered and shaded for a few 

 days from the sun. As the plants begin to grow they are 

 staked to prevent their being bent over by the syringing, 

 which is done twice a day, during bright weather, until 

 the buds begin to show, when they are only syringed 

 in the morning so that the house is dry by night. 

 After the plants grow and the pots are filled with roots, 

 feeding with weak liquid manure is begun. Enough 

 is given to keep the foliage in good color until the bud 

 sets, after which they are fed regularly twice a week. 

 The plants are always watered with clear water previous 

 to receiving the liquid manure. 



"Cow and sheep manure are used, also soot, steeped 

 in a barrel in the usual way, but care must be taken 

 not to give .it too strong. These materials are changed 

 every week. We usually give the plants a tap dressing 

 of soil, manure and a little high grade fertilizer when 

 the feeding begins, the continual watering having 

 washed out some of the soil. We continue feeding 

 until the blooms are three-fourths open. 



"During the growing of the plants attention is 

 paid to staking and keeping all side growths removed. 

 We generally take the first bud that comes, which 

 usually is about the latter part of August or the begin- 

 ning of September, according to variety. To keep clear 

 of green and black aphis during the growing period, we 

 sprinkle the plants with tobacco dust once a week in 

 the morning and syringe it off after a couple of hours. 

 After the buds have set we fumigate with Aphis punk 

 and place tobacco stems on the heating pipes under the 

 benches. Red spider is kept in check by a judicious 

 use of the syringe. As the blossoms are opening we 

 shade the greenhouse lightly with white lead and 



