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TRICKS IN TRAINING s»^ 



MAMMOTH MUMS 



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Skill worthy of a prestidigitator, combined with toil and care in 

 unlimited quantities, is required of the grower of 14-foot hush mums. 

 But every florist will find the effort expended in training a plant of 

 smaller size a profitable investment in an advertising way. 



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T the autumn shows in 

 New York each year, the 

 visitors view with admira- 

 tion the splendid roses, 

 carnations, orchids and 

 exhibition mums, and look 

 with interest upon the 

 novelties in the various 

 lines, but it is only when 

 they come to the large 

 bush chrysanthemums that they make 

 any striking display of their apprecia- 

 tion. For the last several years the 

 immense potted mums exhibited by the 

 gardeners of the large estates in the 

 vicinity of the eastern metropolis have 

 been the big feature of the shows for 

 the newspapers and the visiting public. 

 There is something spectacular about 

 them that moves the crowds gathered 

 around them to outspoken and extrava- 

 gant praise. 



An Advertising Opportunity. 



Of course, the time, labor and care, 

 not to speak of the experience and 

 skill, necessary to train a plant such as 

 that shown in the illustration on this 

 page, is beyond the ordinary commer- 

 cial florist. But to win admiration of 

 the public, it is not 

 necessary to attain 

 the size of the 

 plants exhibited by 

 John Canning, of 

 Ardsley, N. Y., 

 which measure 

 more than fourteen 

 feet in diameter 

 and carry over 

 1,400 blooms; Mr. 

 Canning's ambition 

 is to beat the mi- 

 kado's gardener, at 

 Tokyo, who has set 

 the mark of sixteen 

 feet four inches. 

 If a florist's shop 

 exhibited a plant 

 of no more than 

 half that size, it 

 would win speedy 

 attention from the 

 passing public. A 

 plant of this size 

 will, indeed, re- 

 quire a large ex- 

 penditure of time 

 and care, but the 

 result in advertis- 

 ing would warrant 

 the attempt b y 

 many florists. 



No exhaus^tive 

 treatn^ent of the 

 growing and train- 



ing of bush mums can be given in the 

 space available here. Every experi- 

 enced chrysanthemum grower knows 

 the underlying principles of culture. 

 Therefore, the final potting and the 

 method of training the plants only are 

 treated here. These are outjinei in 

 Mr. Canning's own words as follows: 



The Final Potting. 



For the last potting, or tubbing, 

 properly speaking, we use the standard 

 plant tubs, measuring twenty-four 

 inches in diameter. The final compost 

 is as follows: Six parts of good, coarse 

 loam, one and one-half parts coarse 

 leaf-mold and two parts good, mellow 

 cow manure, with a generous addition 

 of both coarse and fine bone, a fair 

 amount of Thomson's vine and plant 

 manure, and soot, lime and sufficient 

 charcoal, all thoroughly mixed with the 

 soil. We prepare our tubs by placing 

 •large pieces of potsherds over the holes 

 in the bottoms, then fill in with finer 

 pieces. On this we use a few coarse 

 leaves and a good layer of manure, 

 topping this off with a good sprinkling 

 of coarse bone. 



After filling our tubs to within fif- 



Buth Mum GrowfTby j. Canoiog, H feet io Diameter, CanyiDg 1,400 Blooms. 



teen inches, of the top, we select three 

 of the best and most uniform plants, 

 and place them in one of our tubs to 

 form one specimen. We then fill in 

 with soil about them, finishing in such 

 a manner that we have three inches of 

 space at the top for future top-dress- 

 ing and water. 



We place the plants in a temperature 

 of 55 to 60 degrees at night. Soon we 

 supply stakes about the edges of the 

 tubs and tie raffia from one stake to 

 another, to keep the increasing growth 

 from falling over the tubs. 



We now come to the period of first 

 tyin^ down or training. Our large 

 house, void of benches, is prepared 

 about May 1, and the plants are placed 

 therein. The outside temperature be- 

 ing warmer, we carry ^ pur night tem- 

 perature from then on at 50 degrees 

 when possible. 



Training the Plants. 



' Our first training consists of placing 

 a strong stake in the center of the tub, 

 leaving it four feet above the top of 

 the tub when well driven into the soil. 

 We next use four %-inch round iron 

 rods, cut to 10-foot lengths. These we 

 place at right an- 

 gles to one another 

 on the top edge of 

 the tub, their cen- 

 ters crbssing at the 

 center of the tub or 

 about the stake at 

 this point. These 

 rods are then placed 

 equidistant from 

 one another at the 

 edge of the tub, and 

 fastened there with 

 staples driven over 

 them into the tub 

 edge. Measuring 

 the distance our 

 plants will reach 

 out when tied down, 

 we place a circular 

 ring of No. 8 gal- 

 vanized wire at this 

 point on the top of 

 our heavy round 

 rods, tying these 

 together at each 

 point of contact 

 with florists* green 

 twine. This gives 

 us eight ties, and 

 we now have the 

 foundation of our 

 framing and may 

 enlarge on it as we 

 need. 



We take down 



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