plain, Citronella does not get into good 
growth under these sash-house condi¬ 
tions, but is fine with us in the regular 
greenhouses. Marie De Petris we find 
excellent; so are Norma and Source 
d’Or and the new single Valencia dis¬ 
budded—three to four to a plant. 
The big standards will set buds in 
three to four weeks of black-cloth 
treatment, and after buds are taken, 
shading is discontinued. This applies 
to all the disbuds. Pompons should be 
shaded until the center buds show 
color. This is necessary in order to 
have plenty of lateral buds set. Failure 
to prolong shade on pompons will leave 
some lateral growth blind. In making 
plans for planting, one must keep this 
difference in the shading period in 
mind. 
Early-flowering varieties in both 
classes will set buds and flower some¬ 
what earlier than will late ones. For 
this reason only regular October-flow¬ 
ering kinds should be used for flower¬ 
ing about mid-September. However, 
the past season we flowered in our cold 
houses Friendly Rival and New York 
September 25 from plants on which 
shading was started July 15. 
Sash, or Cold Houses. 
We maintain a close cost accounting 
system of all crops grown, and mums 
in our big, costly houses frequently do 
not show a profit because of investment 
and depreciation charges. Do not for¬ 
get that one way or another these 
charges must be met. For several years 
we have moved our mum growing to 
what we call sash, or cold houses such 
as seen in the illustration on page 20. 
Because of their low overhead costs, 
we have been able to make these 
houses profitable to the extent of about 
10 cents per square foot of bench 
space, all costs counted. There are 
three good reasons for this: (1) Entire 
crop was flowered in September through 
shading, (2) low cost of houses used 
and (3) better quality of stock through 
use of these open, comparatively cool 
houses. 
Any available material is used in 
their construction, which consists of 
nothing but roof. The sides are left 
entirely open. To protect the stock 
against a possible freeze and to de¬ 
velop a short spring crop before mums 
are planted, we use on the sides a 
heavy canvas material that is readily 
hooked into place. In addition, 1-inch 
steam lines are run through, for even 
late September mums sometimes need 
the drying effect of artificial heat dur¬ 
ing wet weather. Pompons, however, 
would hardly require this. In our lati¬ 
tude we can keep frost out of these 
houses after March 1. 
To Follow Mums. 
An important possibility in connec¬ 
tion with the mum crop is something 
that can be planted or started up early 
in March and cleared out not later 
than Mothers’ day. Darwin tulips fit 
in exactly. They are planted right 
after mums are cleared out and are cut 
out in time to plant mums. If heat is 
turned on and the house is closed in 
early in March, tulips can be flowered 
from a late Easter to Mothers’ day, 
and for a business that retails its prod¬ 
uct, they would, no doubt, pay. But 
with our dependence upon a wholesale 
market, ®ur returns seldom exceed 
costs, low as they are. 
We are trying a number of annuals 
and perennials this season and feel con¬ 
fident that something to fit in this early 
short period can be found. We are try¬ 
ing the Elder type of perennial daisies, 
and there are a number of strains that 
flower outdoors in June that might fit 
in. Delphinium has possibilities, par¬ 
ticularly the chinensis type known as 
Cambridge Blue, which flowers nor¬ 
mally in seven months from seeds. And 
there are annuals such as candytuft, 
snapdragons, centaureas, gypsophila 
and others that could be sown in Janu¬ 
ary, carried on in flats or pots and run 
into these cold houses in March, a sea¬ 
son when indoor space is at a premium 
or should be. 
Getting back to our subject—to 
spread the maturing of the crop, we 
apply black-cloth shading to our mums 
on three separate dates, July 15 and 
25 and August 5. This sequence ma¬ 
tures the crop from September 12 to 
15, to early October. When the large 
standards open, we protect them with 
a fairly heavy shade. This not only 
reduces the heat somewhat, but a Sep¬ 
tember sun inclines to burn the blooms, 
especially if they are soft. This burn¬ 
ing or rotting of petals is the one weak 
factor of the early-flowering plan and 
must be guarded against, especially in 
the selection of varieties, already 
touched upon. 
In Applying Cloth. 
As seen in one illustration, we apply 
cloth over the entire house in sections 
eighteen feet wide. Each section over 
the house is in one piece and is nailed 
to the ridge with a lath. Three-inch 
round poles are attached to the ends 
of the cloth by means of which the 
cloth is rolled up or down with a rope 
and pulley attached to the ridge. To 
prevent possible leaking of light, we 
allow a lap of twelve inches in joining 
"Enclose Your Mum With Your Seed Order" 
..21 .. 
