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August 11, 1904. 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



509 



TAKING THE BUDS. 



We are now approaching the critical 

 period of chrysanthemum growing, the 

 period when blunders are costly and can- 

 not very well be remedied if made. I 

 refer to the taking of the buds. These 

 remarks apply more particularly, per- 

 haps, to the growers for exhibition than 

 to the commercial cut flower grower. The 

 latter in many cases has not long finished 

 planting and the question of buds will 

 not trouble him for several weeks, but 

 with the future exhibitor the case is dif- 

 ferent. He knows that to get the largest 

 flowers he must get an early bud with 

 the majority of varieties, and though he 

 stands to lose a few flowers altogether, by 

 taking the bud too early, he has to take 

 some chances. 



Buds that form in August are invari- 

 ably what are known as crown buds, and 

 these crown buds also almost invariably 

 produce the largest flowers. The crown 

 bud is always known by the fact of its 

 having three or four tiny shoots spring- 

 ing out around it. In the case of term- 

 inal buds these shoots do not appear but 

 six or eight smaller buds will be found 

 clustered around the larger central one. 



All this, of course, is old to the ex- 

 pert grower but we are writing for the 

 benefit of those who are not experts. 

 Many of these latter have an idea that 

 buds taken very early will mean that the 

 flowers will develop much earlier. This 

 does not necessarily follow, though some 

 kinds do come in a week or so earlier, 

 particularly if the weather runs very 

 warm in October. As a general thing, 

 though, there is little difference in the 

 time of development of the different 

 buds, but, as may naturally be expected, 

 there is considerable difference in the 

 size of the flowers. While the early bud 

 is swelling, and petals are developing, the 

 later bud is not yet even formed, as the 

 plant has an additional growth to make 

 and develop before bud formation can 

 begin. I have been told that since the 

 crown bud never makes a flower if the 

 plant is permitted to grow naturally 

 without any disbudding, the later bud is 

 really the natural one and should there- 

 fore be the best. To this I can only 

 reply that ' ' this is an art that doth mend 

 nature. ' ' 



One of the questions that will arise 

 first in the mind of the novice is, how 

 early, to be reasonably safe, can he take 

 a bud? I have for many years fixed 

 for myself the third week in August as 

 a date when I considered it safe to take 

 any bud that I could find ready. Some 

 will come all right taken even earlier, 

 but they need careful handling and ex- 

 perience, and unless one has taken buds 

 early in August before with success it is 

 not wise to go into it too heavily. If a 

 bud begins to show too early it can be 

 held on the plant a week or more almost 

 stationary, by not rubbing off more than 

 one or two of the previously mentioned 

 shoots, and leaving the others for a time 

 to divert the flow of sap from the bud. 



It is a good idea, in fact, at any time 

 to leave one or more shoots below the 

 bud for a week, or so to act as a kind of 

 safety valve. When all the growths are 

 rubbed off close and all the energies of 

 the plant are directed on a tiny bud no 

 larger than a pin's head, it is hardly to 

 be wondered at if the bud sometimes 

 fails to mature properly. 



Some growers complain that when they 

 take the crown bud the flower runs away 

 from the foliage, leaving a long, bare 

 neck. While some kinds will do this no 

 matter how they are grown, it is quite 

 often the fault of the grower in having 

 his plants make a long, soft, sappy 

 growth by excessive watering and lack of 



showing before the foliage commences. 

 It accentuates the size of the flower and 

 a vase of such flowers has a lighter, 

 more graceful appearance in my eyes. 



Every one should have a little note 

 book and put down in it the times he 

 takes certain buds. Mark the plants and 

 then when the flowers appear he can see 

 for himself which bud produced the best 

 flowers and this will be valuable in- 

 formation gained for next season. Hit or 

 miss methods never pan out successfully 

 in any business, least of all in a delicate 

 operation like disbudding chrysanthe- 

 mums. 



While some of our American seedlings 

 are better on a bud taken early in Sep- 

 tember, notably the well known Apple- 

 ton, all of the imported varieties give 

 best results when taken on the August 

 crown; in fact, the late bud produces in 

 many cases a flower that is practically 

 useless. 



These remarks apply to my district, 

 the eastern coast. Things may work dif- 

 ferently in the interior of the country 

 but where one is writing for readers 

 scattered all over a vast country like this, 

 growers should take into some account 



J. J. Beneke, President St Louis Florists' Qub. 



proper ventilation, when really the plants 

 should now be showing signs of maturity 

 my making short, stocky growth, with 

 bark showing up the stems like the bark 

 on a tree. Well ripened wood is one of 

 the secrets of the big flowers and to get 

 well ripened wood one must plant early 

 and grow as cool and hard as possible. 

 I have never been bothered by lack of 

 foliage in taking crown buds. Some 

 people profess great admiration for a 

 solid column of foliage with the flower 

 squat right down on it, but I personally 

 would rather see the flowers stand out 

 above with about an inch of bare stem 



their location and apply the lesson ac- 

 cordingly. Brian Bobu. 



THE BEST SHOOT. 



Please state the best and safest shoot 

 to leave on chrysanthemums to get the 

 best bud after August 10. Is the first 

 or second the better to leave on the 

 plant! J. C. 



I prefer, as a general thing, to leave 

 the second shoot on the plant to grow on, 

 as the first sometimes makes a short 

 growth of several inches and then pro- 



