14 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



NOVEJIBER 24i 1910. 



MUMS FOR DECORATION DAY. 



Can I grow mums for Decoration 

 day? If so, when should I bench 

 them to have them blooming a week 

 before Decoration day? I wish to 

 grow the first earlies, such as Golden 

 Glow and October Frost; or are some 

 others better? C. F. B. 



Getting chrysanthemums into bloom 

 in the spring is not a new trick by 

 any means. The writer had such 

 plants fully sixteen years ago. There 

 is usually little or no demand for them 

 at that time, however, and it is not 

 generally done, for that reason. 



Eooted suckers potted off now arc 

 the ones to use, if you want to try it. 

 Not all the varieties will set buds so 

 early and you will have to experiment 

 with the varieties of today to find out 

 which to use. The old variety Eugene 

 Dailledouze could be depended on to 

 a plant to set buds when handled that 

 way. Golden Glow will set buds any 

 time of the year, if propagated accord- 

 ingly. If you will cut away the old 

 plant and let the suckers come with- 

 out moving the plant, -you will get a 

 lot of blooms early in the spring. 



A. F. J. B. 



EFFECT OF UNSUITABLE WATER. 



Will you kindly tell me why my fine 

 lot of chrysanthemums proved a fail- 

 ure? I bought fine stock from two mum 

 specialists. I am located in Georgia 

 and grow all my plants in the open. I 

 prepared my ground well in March, as 

 we have to start the plants here before 

 the ground gets hot. I planted them 

 deep and cultivated them well. In July 

 I gave them a top-dressing of old, well- 

 rotted cow manure. In August I put 

 on a light top-dressing of guano. Up 

 to this time I had as fine a prospect as 

 I ever had. A few plants showed rust, 

 but not to any great extent. 



I began watering in August, with a 

 hose. I used city water on them, which 

 we drink, but it seems to have a great 

 amount of alum in it. The foliage be- 

 gan to turn black-spotted and dry. I 

 feared to use the second coating of 

 manure, but there were no buds, except 

 false ones, until the second week in 

 September. By that time the stems 

 were almost bare. All the foliage 

 turned black and died. After the buds 

 were as large as walnuts the stems 

 directly under the buds dried up and 

 the buds died. On others the buds 

 drooped down on one side to the stem 

 and turned black. Some began to open 

 and gave promise of fine blooms, but 

 soon turned dry and died. 



Was the stock at fault? Were the 

 plants diseased, or was the trouble 

 caused by the manure or water? Would 

 you advise the use of the plants as 

 stock plants for next year? Please 

 give directions for growing good, large 



blooms in the open field, and tell me 

 how to get early buds and blooms. The 

 plants listed i^ the catalogues to bud 

 August 25 do not bud for me until Sep- 

 tember 10 to 15. . R. D. M. 



The trouble in this case would seem, 

 unquestionably, to be caused by the 

 water. R. D. M. says that until August 

 there were splendid prospects of a suc- 

 cessful crop. The top-dressings at that 

 time, of cow manure and guano, would 

 not do any damage, unless excessively 

 heavy, and this does not appear to have 

 been the case. The failure could not be 

 due to poor stock received from the 

 growers, as the plants began to grow 

 splendidly and showed fine prospects. 



Any water that contains alum is cer- 

 tainly bad for vegetation, particularly 

 for soft-leaved plants, such as chrysan- 

 tliemums are when growing. If R. D. M. 

 can not procure any different water, I 

 would suggest dispensing with it alto- 

 gether and grooving the plants accord- 

 ing to the dry system — that is, by per- 

 sistent cultivation instead of watering. 

 Outside the water, I see no reason in 

 this case for being unable to grow 

 chrysanthemums and get a splendid lot 

 of flowers. 



Charles H. Totty. 



BLOOMS FEW AND IMPERFECT. 



About the first week in last June we 

 planted a solid, center bed, in a new 

 greenhouse, to mums. Only about 

 three-fourths of the glass had been put 

 in on one side of the roof at that time. 

 The remainder of the glass was put in 

 about the middle of September, so that 

 the plants were practically in the open 



air during the summer months. They 

 have, in general, done poorly, though 

 other conditions seemed favorable to 

 them. A considerable percentage of 

 them came blind, especially in the early 

 sorts, and all varieties show many im- 

 perfect flowers. They all made slow 

 and short-jointed growth, flowering un- 

 usually late. Would the fact of their 

 being uncovered all summer be re- 

 sponsible for these shortcomings? I 

 am now located in eastern Canada. 

 Farther south I have grown mums out- 

 doors entirely through the summer, 

 but never tried it so far north as'^this. 



J. M. & S. 



In all probability, the cause of these 

 plants doing so poorly is the fact that 

 they were exposed all summer. Many 

 insects attack the plants when they are 

 grown outside, the worst ones being 

 the tarnished plant bugs. These little 

 insects puncture the stem of the plant 

 and cause it to run blind. They appear 

 also under glass, but not to anywhere 

 nearly the same extent as they do when 

 the plants are exposed to outside con- 

 ditions. Chas. H. Totty. 



A DOZEN GOOD, LARGE SORTS. 



I wish to plant twelve different va- 

 rieties of mums and I know you are 

 in a position to recommend the dozen 

 different sorts. They must be all large 

 ones, as I have plenty of the smaller 

 sorts. In fact, I have plenty of each 

 kind, but wish to keep up my stock. I 

 am located in Missouri. A. J. B. 



The following varieties are all large 

 and will give a good selection of colors: 



Florist's Booth at a Texas Owjnty Fair. 



