time. While some Nov. varieties are su¬ 
perior, we now have a splendid lot of Oct. 
kinds that lend themselves well to shading. 
The first requirement for this purpose is 
hardness or durability of flower. A soft 
variety flowered around 10-15th of Sept, 
in our latitude is almost certain to be lost 
thru rot or spotting of petals. Heading 
most anybody’s list of big Mums for shad¬ 
ing to flower in Oct., we find the following 
most suitable in the order named: Good 
News, Detroit News, Silver Sheen, Pink 
Chief, Betsy Ross, C. W. Johnson, and 
Apricot Queen. The second factor to con¬ 
sider in flowering early is color. Most any 
white and clear yellow will color per¬ 
fectly. But the pink and bronze will come 
much lighter when flowered during warm 
weather. Even Gladys Pearson flowered 
Nov. 1 will, if the weather is warm, be 
much lighter than when it comes naturally; 
and if it is flowered around mid-Oct., it 
will come clear golden yellow. If Apricot 
Queen is flowered a month ahead of its 
normal date, which is Oct. 25, it will be 
a clear golden yellow—very excellent and 
of good size. We find Pink Chief about the 
best in its color for early shading but when 
the color of early Oct. flowers is compared 
with those of its normal date, they will be 
found much lighter. This fading down of 
color is quite natural for heat has the same 
effect on any flowers. 
Nearly all Pompons are much harder 
than the big ones for it seems to be a 
natural law in flowers that size should be 
at the cost of hardness. The pink and 
bronze kinds will, of 
course, fade some but 
not to the extent that 
the big ones will. To a 
lesser extent, this is 
true of the Anemones 
as well. The following 
Pompons are most valu¬ 
able in the order named, 
for late Sept, flowering: 
Nuggets, Pink Dot, Ro- 
dell Imp., Minong, Yel¬ 
low Dot, Jessie, Arca¬ 
dia, and Vera Victoria. 
It should be remem¬ 
bered that varying con¬ 
ditions make for contra¬ 
dictory results and this 
is especially true of 
Mums flowered out of 
season. But this method 
has become quite well 
standardized and it fills 
a distinct need, for as 
cool fall weather sets 
in after mid-Sept., our public naturally 
turns to Mums. To ship them from a mar¬ 
ket 2000 mi. away is not only economically 
wrong, but a loss to our growers as well. 
TO DELAY FLOWERING 
This is done thru prolonging daylight 
with electric lights as already suggested. 
For mid-season kind, turn on lights about 
Aug. 20. For December varieties, start a 
week later. Do not start later, or finished 
stock will tend to have long necks and 
sometimes, malformed flowers. Use 40 
Watt bulbs with reflectors. Space lights 
5 feet and high enuf to spread the light 
well over the bed. Turn lights on when 
darkness is reached and for 3 hours daily. 
Continue the lighting for three-fourths as 
many days as it is wished to delay flower¬ 
ing; in other words, if you wish to defer 
flowering 20 days, keep the lights on them 
15 days. It is not considered practical to 
delay flowering more than 3 or 4 weeks. 
Take first bud showing after light treat¬ 
ment stops. While the behavior of varie¬ 
ties varies under this treatment, success 
with the above suggestions has been fairly 
uniform. 
In conclusion, the writer well recalls a 
remark made just 45 years ago to the effect 
that Mums had about reached as high a 
state of perfection as it was possible to 
achieve. It would be just as wrong to 
make such a prediction today for the total 
market value and the improvement of 
Mums is increasing annually. Long grace¬ 
ful stems, rich, attractive colors and adapt¬ 
ability are reasons for their staple value. 
Nice bed of Pink Dot grown in our Aster cloth house. Cuttings planted May 
10; shaded July 10 to Aug. 10; photo taken Sept. 20. We consider Pink Dot 
one of the finest varieties for this early outdoor shaded crop. 
— 23 — 
