OCTOBBB 13, 1921 



The Florists' Review 



33 



OROwnra easly mums. 



Yesterday and Today. 



The chrysanthemum is of Japanese 

 origin, symbolic with the Japanese. It 

 has come to this country and found a 

 host of friends; yes, it has become the 

 most popular flower in its season. I do 

 particularly well remember when I was 

 a boy, my father used to grow a large 

 quantity of a certain white chrysanthe- 

 mum in pots, which would grow at their 

 will without disbudding. To get as 

 many flowers as possible from a plant 

 was the main object. These plants 

 would be grown in pots, plunged in beds 

 about four feet wide. They were grown 

 outside in this manner during the sum- 

 mer months, with all attention to water- 

 ing and tying, and once a week an ap- 

 plication of liquid manure would help 

 to grow these plants about thirty inches 

 high, bushy and with buds literally cov- 

 ered. 



When the top or center buds were de- 

 veloped, the chrysanthemum season had 

 opened. These would be pinched out or 

 cut off with their short, little stems and 

 packed into a chip-basket. Such a bas- 

 ket would hold about 100 to 150 blooms. 

 After covering this basket with a news- 

 paper, tied with raffia, it was ready to 

 be sold or delivered to the city florist. 

 Telephones at that time were not much 

 known and were few, but postal cards 

 would reach us from one or the other 

 florist in the city every day with orders 

 for 100 or more of these chrysanthe- 

 mums. To pick up the necessary quan- 

 tity and affix to each basket the proper 

 address was then quickly done. It was 

 my job to deliver these flowers, not all 

 the way to the city, but a few squares 

 to the street car line, awaiting the 

 horse-drawn street car. I would jump 

 in, go right through the car to the 

 driver, who was motorman, or bet- 

 ter, street car driver and conductor 

 both. The basket of chrysanthemums I 

 would place on the front platform, the 

 tip I would place in his hand and he 

 would do the rest. He knew all the 

 flower stores along his line. When he 

 came to the store, of which the proprie- 

 tor's name would correspond with the 

 address on the basket of chrysantho- 

 mums, he would yell out a commanding 

 "Whoa," jump off the front platform, 

 shove the basket inside the door, and 

 then again jingle along on his horse car, 

 drawn by a team of horses covered with 

 harnesses beset with sort of sleigh bells. 



Stages of Cultivation. 



From those small chrysanthemums of 

 old, which today we would hardly con- 

 sider, we now have the most wonderful, 

 large-flowered, long-stemmed cKtysan- 

 themums, not only in white, but in 



Paper delivered bv Ernest J. F. ZleKer before 

 the Philadelphia Florists' Club nt the Hotel 

 Adelpiiia October 4. 1921.' 



shades of all colors that harmonize with 

 the autumn aspect, and foliage which 

 blends from the light shades of yellow 

 to bronze, gold and red. The marvelous 

 revolution to perfection as to flower, 

 stem and foliage of the chrysanthemums 

 has even tried to outdo its rivals of 

 other seasons, even the rose and carna- 

 tion. There is no flower that could come 

 up or compare with the stately queen of 

 autumn. 



Although the chrysanthemum is of 

 easy culture, one has to be on the job 

 all of the time, if good, even satisfac- 

 tory results are to be obtained. Often 

 it occurs that a grower is well pleased 

 with the growing conditions up to a 

 certain period, but there and then comes 

 some unforeseen, altogether unexpected 

 misfortune, such as rust, mildew, im- 

 perfect development of the flowers or 



The Editor Is pleased when 

 a Reader presents his ideas 

 on any subject treated in 



As experience is the best 

 teacher, so do we learn 

 fastest l>y an exchange of 

 experiences. Many valuable 

 points are brought out by 

 discussion. 



Good penmanship, spelling and 

 grammar, though desirable, are not 

 necessary. Write as you would talk 

 when doing your best, 



WE SHALL BE GLAD 

 TO HEAR FROM YOU 



even flower-rot, and this seems to affect 

 just the strongest plants, with thick, 

 healthy looking stems and buds so large, 

 one would think the flower to be the 

 size of a straw hat. This trouble affects 

 almost exclusively the early chrysanthe- 

 mums and is a serious one. 



To follow up better the different 

 stages of cultivation, let us begin with 

 the stock plants and the cuttings, as I 

 believe much depends on the condition 

 of the stock and the cuttings. Many 

 diseases and imperfections may be 

 traced right back to the original stock 

 plants. All attention should be given 

 the stock plants. Where a great quan- 

 tity of chrysanthemums is grown, it is 

 best to reserve one house just for this 

 purpose. 



This specially reserved house should 

 be planted to such varieties as will 

 produce cuttings sparingly. Under usual 

 conditions, for instance, Chadwick, 



when moved to other quarters, becomes 

 cheeked so much that cuttings will be 

 produced only sparingly. On the 

 other hand, if left right in the bed 

 where they have grown all summer, 

 these will produce a great quantity 

 cuttings. Other varieties, in particu>ar 

 all the early-flowering kinds, may^ be 

 moved from the other houses into this 

 special house. If first a limited quan- 

 tity of chrysanthemums is grown, I 

 prefer to move all stock plants into a 

 coldframe, which has been gotten ready 

 during the earlier season with new, fresh 

 soil. The frame should be made tight, 

 covered with hotbed sashes and provided 

 with a single steam line, to be used 

 only in cold weather in order to keep 

 the temperature in said frame just 

 above freezing. The sashes are made 

 to slide and should be opened on top by 

 sliding or pulling all or every other one 

 down for plenty of ventilation when- 

 ever possible. We prefer to dust air- 

 slaked lime all over these stock plants, 

 before real cold weather sets in. It 

 keeps all kinds of insects away, includ- 

 ing snails and also the worst of all 

 enemies, the midge. I have never seen 

 anything of the midge on our plants. 

 The government inspectors, who come 

 around regularly, made the remark that 

 not even a chrysanthemum fly or aphis 

 could be found. A few years ago I ques- 

 tioned an inspector regarding the midge. 

 Asking me if I wished to see them, he 

 pulled out a handful of chrysanthemum 

 leaves which were badly infested with 

 this pest. He took a knife and cut the 

 top surface of one of the warts open and 

 there right between the under and upper 

 leaf tissue were the much dreaded larva, 

 which, when touched with this knife, 

 would move. Hence, it was full of life. 

 Anyhow I did watch him closely for 

 fear he might accidentally lose one of 

 his treasures. I was not in his sort of 

 business, hence was not much interested 

 in anything like midge, or anything else 

 that may be like it. The thought of it 

 made me shiver. 



Carefiil Culture Needed. 



You may feel sure that if your stock 

 plants are treated and taken care of as 

 described, in a cool house or frame cov- 

 ered with lime dust for about two 

 months and as a safeguard fumigated 

 with nicotine, painted on the steam pipe 

 now and again, you will have strong, 

 healthy and well rested chrysanthemum 

 stock plants by February. The first 

 warm, sunny day in the early spring we 

 syringe the lime off tlioroughly and then, 

 the following nice day, scratch the lime- 

 covered surface soil, turning the lime 

 under. This lime, mixed with the new 

 soil that was brought in before planting 

 the chrysanthemums in the previous 

 fall, without any manure or fertilJMgiiof 

 any kind, will act withv^glipP^'on 

 the chrysanthemums. aBBProese will 

 [Cotitlnued on page 76.1 



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