BETTER MUMS FOR 1944 rROM— Gof giielt 

GOLDEN SURPRISE 
growers of Pot Mums expose their plants to the 
outdoors at least for part of the summer. Some 
grow them in outdoor frames thruout mid- 
summer but a cleaner finished plant is had by 
sheltering them indoors soon as the hottest part 
of the season is past. Reason for at least some 
outdoor exposure is, it’s more dwarf growth 
effect. This is particularly true if the house is 
not a light, unshaded one as it should be for 
all Mum growth. After pot plants get well 
into growth and become pot bound, they should 
stand some feeding with liquid manure that has 
a fair proportion of nitrogen in it. In fact Mum 
growth is strong enuf to stand good live soil to 
start with. While they must be watered with 
some care after potting into large pots direct, 
as they get into the pot bound stage, water is 
something of a limiting factor especially when 
exposed to outdoor conditions. 
HARDY MUMS. Some varieties listed as such 
will frequently prove disappointing under our 
climatic conditions. North of us where snow 
protection is much more dependable, and in the 
near south where temperature changes are not 
so sudden and severe, the varieties listed as 
hardy are more dependable. That also seems 
true of the Eastern States especially where 
climatic conditions are tempered by the ocean. 
However, the importance of drainage should be 
emphasized. Also, a properly nourished vigorous 
growth has a better chance of surviving a rigor- 
ous winter than a semi-starved plant has. But of 
most importance where changes are sudden and 
extreme is a covering of coarse material deep 
enough to prevent much alternate thawing and 
freezing. Also Hardy Mums might be winter 
killed for the very obvious reason that there are 
no eyes under ground from which runners can 
carry on the following year. So in planting out 
see to it that they are down deep enuf to cover 
_ some eyes. This in turn means that cuttings of 
hardy varieties should be short jointed with 
plenty of eyes at the base. We regret that be- 
cause of present conditions we find it impossible 
to supply the hardy section this season. 


Picturing our newly worked 
out method of packing our Mum 
cuttings. Packing is done at the 
propagating bench. Each row 
across the bench is a unit of 25 
cuttings. These units are taken 
from the row and without wrap- 
ping are placed in the compart- 
ments noted in the pictured box 
and where they rest on damp 
moss. This method assures the 
least possible exposure of roots 
and avoids the close tight pack- 
ing that is ordinarily used. 
Feely ie te 
