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FIGHT FLORAL CO., INC 
’ 
22 West 26TH Street, New Yore 
Culture of Chrysanthemums 
CALEX LAURIE 
Despite the fact that much has been written 
on the subject, the growing of Chrysanthemums 
still is not done to, perfection. Mediocre quality 
is the rule rather than the exception. This state 
of affairs is not too difficult to remedy, since the 
requirements of this plant are not too exacting. 
Yet because of the fact that no matter how grown, 
a crop of sorts will be produced, there is a ten- 
dency to neglect some of the stmplest rules of good 
culture. 
START CLEAN 
One of the cardinal sins in growing Chrysan- 
themums ts the failure to start with clean cut- 
tings. It is not uncommon to see young plants 
just benched covered with midge, thrip, spider 
and like as not a dose of verticilltum lurking 
underneath and spot on the foliage. With such a 
start, the operator makes himself liable first to 
many control measures which are costly and 
labor-consuming, and secondly to a complete loss 
of the crop due to the ravages from verticillitum. 
Hence, start with absolutely clean stock. If you 
have not got it, buy it and make sure it is clean 
when you get it. As far as the verticillium is con- 
cerned, you cannot be sure you are free from It 
unless you buy “‘verticillitum free” cuttings or else 
plant resistant varieties only. The latter course 
is not advocated because it limits you to certain 
types. Having made sure of your stock, the next 
simple step is the soil and planting and thereby 
hangs another tale. 
PROPER SOIL ESSENTIAL 
You often hear it said, just use “any good 
soil.”’ But what is meant by a “good” soil? To 
us, It means any soil which contains a lot of 
organic matter, say at least one-fourth by vol- 
ume, preferably in the form of well rotted ma- 
nure. It also means that this soil drains well, is 
slightly acid in its reaction, contains some cal- 
cium in addition to small amounts of nitrogen, 
and medium amounts of phosphorus and potash. 
In other words don’t start off by giving your soil 
a heavy dose of some nitrogenous fertilizer. 
Test it first to make sure. By starting with low 
amounts, the root action develops quickly and 
subsequent application of fertilizers has the 
desired effect. As to the depth of the soil, that is 
not a serious matter, although in well drained 
ground beds, higher quality may be secured by 
the average grower, largely due to greater uni- 
formity of moisture. This is Important. Many a 
promising crop finally ends up of mediocre qual- 
tty and small size because of the failure to main- 
tain a sufficient moisture in the soil, particularly 
towards maturity. In that connection, a mulch 
of peat or even well rotted manure or alfalfa or 
soy bean straw will be found very helpful; say 
beginning with July on. 
PLANTING DISTANCE 
We think that a smart operator will save him- 
self much labor and produce higher quality, if 
he benches his cuttings direct from the propagat- 
ing bench or else has them shipped from a special- 
ist In time to be benched. If such cuttings are 
shipped, it is well to soak them well before plant- 
ing. The operation of potting and then eventu- 
ally planting is time consuming and if plants are 
permitted to be pot bound, results in stunted 
stock. We see no reason for planting farther 
apart than 8x8 which suffices for both the stand- 
ards and the Pompons. True, some varieties are 
rank growers and you may wish to modify the 
distance, and yet commercial kinds are not meant 
for exhibittons and unnecessary space may be 
wasted. 
FERTILIZATION 
Once properly established, the fertilization 
program may well follow soil tests. If for some 
reason, this ts not available, in general one appli- 
cation of a complete fertilizer will suffice, followed 
by inorganic (chemical) nitrogenous fertilizers 
about once in three to four weeks. If these are 
not available, blood or tankage or soy bean meal 
may be used. A pound of ammonium sulphate 
per 100 square feet Is sufficient at a time, or three 
to four pounds of tankage or soy bean meal. The 
Jatter two are of course much slower acting. 
Fertilization should stop when buds show color. 
CORRECT PINCHING 
The question of pinching is an tmportant one, 
When well grown two and even three to a stem 
in standards ts desirable. The flowers so produced 
are big enough for all general purposes. We 
think it a pure waste of material to set two cut. 
tings toa hill . . . nothing Is gamed and money 
is wasted. As to Pompons, to produce quality 
early pinching ts desirable. Cecil Delworth rec- 
ommends for normal flowering, a pinch about 
100 days ahead of flowering. We have conducted 
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