
QUALITY CHRYSANTHEMUM PLANTS 

(Continued from page 34) 
We cannot emphasize too strongly the necessity of keeping the roots of your plants 
moist at all times. To subject them to a drought, however slight, will cause a sudden 
check in growth, a setback that may later be responsible for a host of trouble—the 
appearance of rust, mildew, blighted or blackened foliage and the premature hardening 
of wood, premature setting of buds with a sequence of partially developed and mis- 
shapen flowers. 
Avoid overwatering as it is apt to lead to equally disastrous results. Confine your 
irrigation activities to a time of day sufficiently early to allow superficial drying of foliage 
before nightfall. 
STOPPING—When the young plant has become firmly established—normally within 
a period of two weeks from planting date—pinch out the top. This simple operation is 
known as “stopping” and will bring about the formation of three or more new shoots, the 
subsequent handling of which must be governed by whatever plan you may have for 
their future disposition. In order to dwarf your plants, make them bush out, and to increase 
their yield of blooms it may be necessary to “stop” them a number of times, the proper 
number to be determined by the particular variety of plant in need of such attention and 
the specific result desired. 
RESTRICTION OF LATERAL GROWTH—A plant, when allowed to retain no more 
than one, two or three stems, will develop much larger blooms than it will if permitted 
to grow without restriction. This is especially true of the large flowering types—exhibi- 
tions, commercials, spidery sorts and some of the larger anemones. 
When the plant’s energy, governed as it is by the amount of needed elements it assimi- 
lates from the soil, is used in feeding a profusion of growth, we cannot well hope to 
obtain maximum results as regards size, color or shape of bloom. 
Excellent results may be had by raising four, six or eight disbudded blooms on plants 
of the larger pompon, anemone and single types suitable for the purpose, the number 
to be chosen varying with the type and variety of plant. 
BUD SELECTION—Early in August many varieties produce a cluster of buds, the cen- 
tral and larger of which is termed the early or crown and the encircling buds vegetative. 
For exhibition types and many of the large commercials, it is desirable to “take” the 
crown bud. 
While the term “take the bud’ may be enshrouded in ambiguity, it simply involves 
the mechanics of removing the buds not to be used and reserving the one chosen as the 
best for development. Therefore, if you wish to “take” the crown bud, you remove the 
encircling buds and reserve the one in the center. 
If it is desirable to use what is commonly known as the terminal bud, the foregoing 
operation is reversed. The central or crown bud and all but one of the encircling or 
vegetative buds are removed. From the remaining bud will spring a vegetative growth that 
will in time produce another cluster of buds, the central one of which should be “taken” 
or reserved and all others removed. 
All crown buds, excepting those from plants of an extremely early blooming habit, 
appearing in the months of May, June and July, should be removed along with all excess 
lateral growth. It is also necessary to keep all axilary and basal growth broken out. 
The plant should be given a thorough going over at frequent intervals in order to keep 
it free from all superfluous growth, thus insuring a minimum waste of plant energy. 
SPRAYING—The chrysanthemum is not immune to damage frequently caused by the 
uncontrolled activities of a variety of common insect pests; neither is it secure against the 
inroads of malignant fungi that may find in it a beneficent host unless preventative meas- 
ures are taken. It is therefore wise and prudent to start spraying early, continuing at fre- 
quent intervals with the thought in mind that, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound 
of cure.” 
