Bara ER eM Gea So ROR eon PROM eee 
many sprays as they are able, some of them will 
be only partly filled out, some will be smothered 
and crowded out and therefore unsalable. We 
can obviously go to the other extreme also and 
not produce as many as the plant or the space 
allotted is capable of supporting. Between the 
two extremes is a point above which imperfect 
sprays will be formed and below which space 
and plant energy will be wasted. 
Pompon varieties vary of course in the amount 
of growth they produce and this will affect 
spacing and pinching. As with Mums, the 
formation of flowers and sprays and sometimes 
the color of flowers is affected by the number 
of sprays each plant is allowed to produce and 
the time the plant is pinched. The trial and 
error method of varying the number of sprays 
per plant and the time of pinching is the 
only dependable method of establishing the 
best routine for you to follow. Generally speak- 
ing, pinching of Pompons should be done as 
early in the plant’s life as possible so as to 
insure long stems. Too late pinching is apt to 
produce blind and short stemmed growth. 
TAKING BUDS ON MUMS 
The question of which bud to take on Mum 
varieties has long been a subject of discussion 
among Mum growers. It is quite an important 
one too; if the wrong bud is taken, misshapen, 
undersized and off-colored flowers may result. 
Most specialists in recent years have changed 
their fundamental thinking on the question and 
are now basing their bud taking on a time 
schedule basis rather than on the taking of the 
crown or terminal bud alone. *The flowering 
bud appearing a certain number of days before 
the date flowers are supposed to be ready to 
cut, is taken, regardless of whether it is a 
crown or terminal bud. This interval of days 
between flowering time and bud taking varies 
with different varieties and particularly between 
earlier and later flowering kinds. The interval is 
longer for the later varieties than for the earlies. 
In our list of large flowering commercial 
varieties in the first part of this catalog, you 
will notice a column headed ‘“‘select bud.” The 
date in this column appearing opposite 
each variety is the date we recommend 
that the flowering bud be selected for 
that variety if grown to flower at its 
normal maturing date—not black-cloth 
Shaded. In growing these varieties 
shaded for earlier flowering, this date 
for selecting buds should be advanced 
nearly as many days as you plan to ad- 
vance the flowering date of the variety. 
WATERING 
There are two kinds of watering that 
should be practiced in growing Chrys- 
anthemums. One is soil watering and 
*The crown bud is the first flowering bud 
to appear and is characterized by being sur- 
rounded with vegetative or leaf buds; the 
terminal bud appears later and is surrounded 
by other flower buds and no leaf buds. 
There may be several crown buds but only 
1 terminal bud. 
18 
the other is syringing or spraying of the foliage. 
Mums definitely do not enjoy an overly-wet soil. 
A little on the dry side is to be preferred to the 
other extreme. This is especially important dur- 
ing hot weather. When grown on raised beds 
the danger of over-watering is not so great as 
when grown on ground beds. Chrysanthemums 
are heavy growers and require a considerable 
amount of water during their growing season 
but if their roots are submerged in water-logged 
soil very much of the time they will rot and the 
plants’ leaves will turn yellow and they may 
eventually die if the water-soaked condition 
persists. Soil watering, as with most other crops 
should be done only when the soil is actually 
dry and then done thoroly. Withholding water 
from Mums during the hot summer months to 
the point of wilting does no particular harm 
just so the plants do not remain long in that 
condition. 
Syringing, ‘‘wetting down’ or spraying of 
the foliage of Mums should be done several 
times a day during very hot summer weather. 
If forceful syringing is done, red spider is 
kept in check; however, just spraying or wetting 
the foliage, beds and walks accomplishes the 
purpose of reducing transpiration within the 
plant, cutting down the temperature in the house 
and increasing atmospheric moisture, all of which 
are highly desirable during the heat of the sum- 
mer. Larger growers sometimes have overhead 
sprinkling systems that operate on the Skinner 
system principle. These save immensely in time 
since one man in five minutes can spray a whole 
house that would require perhaps an hour if 
done with the hose. Be careful not to spray 
too heavily—the object is just to wet the 
foliage—the soil should not be wet any more 
than necessary. 
INSECTS AND DISEASES 
Nowhere is the use of good material and 
equipment more profitable than in combating 
insects and diseases of greenhouse crops. Use 
only the most effective and all-around best in- 
secticides and fungicides available, applying 
Apricot Queen, two to a plant, with Albatross on the right 
giown in a Flexo Glass house photoed October 7th, started 
shading July 30th. 

