7<D CHRYSANTHEMUMS 



chrysanthemum, practical experience has 

 corroborated the evidence given by the 

 chemist in his analysis. It will be well to 

 supply the plants with more food than 

 the soil is likely to contain. Professional 

 growers know that lime improves the quality 

 of the plants very materially. This is 

 particularly true of plants grown for cut 

 blooms. A liberal use of lime makes the 

 stems stiffer, the foliage firmer, and gives 

 the blooms more substance. Nitrogen is 

 the element that is generally lacking more 

 than the others, because it is more quickly 

 absorbed, dispelled, or wasted. 



While lime forms such an important part 

 of the substance of the chrysanthemum, it 

 is rarely supplied at the time the soil is 

 composted, for the reason that the plants 

 do not require it so much when small; 

 and also for the reason that lime, in the 

 form in which it is generally used, has the 

 power to a greater or less extent to set free 

 ammonia, which is one of the forms in which 

 nitrogen is supplied to plants, thus wasting 

 more or less of the most valuable fertilizing 

 element. Lime may now be easily supplied 

 to the plants in several ways. A surface 



