New York AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 297 
RINGING CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 
To test the effect of ringing chrysanthemums, the following 
varieties were ringed in the fall of 1906: Ivory, Major Bon- 
naffon, Nagoya, White Bonnaffon and William Duckham. In 
most respects the experiment was a duplicate of the one with 
tomatoes. The experiment was in charge of Richard Wellington, 
Assistant Horticulturist. 7 
Propagation.— The rooted cuttings of these varieties were potted 
in four-inch pots on May 7 and on June 18 one hundred plants 
of each of the above varieties were selected and benched in the 
greenhouse. The rows were I2 inches apart and the plants were 
set with intervals of 9 inches in the row. 
Soil The soil used in the benches consisted of seven parts 
of rotted sod, five parts of well rotted stable manure, and two 
parts of sand, the whole thoroughly mixed. The chrysanthemum 
is a gross feeder and for a further supply of plant food an inch 
of well rotted stable compost was applied just as the buds began 
to form. 
Pruning and training— The plants were pruned to produce 
one terminal bud each. During the experiment the suckers and 
side shoots were kept in check by pinching. As the plants be- 
came topheavy they were tied to a wire trellis. It was thought 
that by training to a terminal bud, thus concentrating the whole 
energy of the plant in one blossom, whatever effect there might 
be from the ringing would be better shown. 
Grouping.— The plants were divided into three groups. The 
plants in the first group, which consisted of every third one in 
the row, commencing with the first plant, were ringed Septem- 
ber 17; those in the second group, which consisted of every third 
plant in the row commencing with the second plant, were ringed 
October 5; and those in the third group, which consisted of every 
third plant in the row commencing with the third plant, were left 
as checks. 
Ringing.— When the first plants were ringed the buds had just 
appeared and the bark was in a very succulent condition, peeling 
readily from the stems. At the time of the second ringing the 
buds had increased considerably in size and the bark had become 
less succulent, especially on the Ivory and William Duckham 
varieties; the bark peeled far less easily than with the first group. 
A penknife was used in removing the bark from the stems. 
Two horizontal cuts, five-eighths of an inch apart, were made, 
