A.B.C. Special Wholesale Price List -Mums for 1946 


“ Fig. 6. Crown bud. 
Fig. 7. Terminal bud. => 


CHRYSANTHEMUM by Avex Laurie 
Continued 
the bench is wet where the water travelled down- 
ward through the cracks and pore spaces, but the 
main body of the soil is not wet. Failure of plants 
to grow in sterilized soil is due to insufficient water- 
ing to wet the soil and to wash through and leach 
out the nitrogen which often accumulates to toxic 
levels. 
. TEMPERATURE 
The chrysanthemum is a cool season crop. During 
summer maintaining a cool house is impossible, but 
overhead syringing helps to cool the plants. When 
the weather becomes cooler in the fall a night tem- 
perature of 50°F. is satisfactory. With late planting 
of late varieties such as Snow, which have not made 
sufficient growth to give the last pinch by August 1, 
the night temperature must be carried at 60° F. until 
buds are visible to prevent blindness. (Fig. 4.) 
PINCHING 
For many years the main object of pinching was 
to produce bushy plants with numerous stems. In 
some varieties such a procedure produced short 
stems and poor flower sprays; in others it was fairly 
satisfactory. In recent years the better growers, 
stimulated by suggestions by Cecil Delworth of On- 
tario, Canada, have begun to pay more attention 
to the time of pinching to secure quality. (Fig. 5.) 
The suggestions are as follows: 
Shaded Chrysanthemums 
For early varieties pinch 30 days prior to shading 
(standards) and 35 days (pompons). Mid-season vari- 
eties should be pinched 35 days prior to shading 
(standards) and 40 days (pompons). If in the case of 
standards certain varieties show a long neck, pinch 
seven days later; or if the variety shows center, 
pinch seven days earlier than the above recommen- 
dations. Two to four stems are allowed to develop 
on the pompons, the spacing varying with the num- 
ber of stems. Thus, if grown to two stems, plant 6 x 8 
inches, three stems 7 x 8, and four stems 8 x 8 inches. 
Standards, if grown to a single stem, may be planted 
6 x 8, if two stems 8 x 8. 

Normal Flowering 
The following is the suggested schedule for pom- 
pons: 
Late October varities, pinch July 1-5. 
Early November varieties, pinch July 5-15. 
Late November varieties, pinch July 20-25. 
December varieties, pinch August 1. 
Standards: 
October varieties, pinch July 10. 
Early November varieties, pinch July 10-25. 
Late November varieties, pinch July 20-30. 
December varieties, pinch August 1-10. 
DISBUDDING 
When standards are grown, either one, two, or 
three stems per plant, each stem must be disbudded 
to prevent development of side shoots. This should 
be done regularly when the shoots are long enough 
to be handled easily. Neglect will cause undue loss 
of time when operation is performed. Disbuds are 
handled the same as standards. Pompons are not 
disbudded. 
TAKING BUDS 
Taking buds on chrysanthemums is a process pe- 
culiar only to this plant. Taking the bud means allow- 
ing it to remain and removing all others. Two types 
of flower buds are produced on the mum. The crown 
type appears first and is distinguished by being sur- 
rounded by shoot buds which grow around it. Some- 
times a second crown bud is produced. The terminal 
type of flower bud is always surrounded by flower 
buds. A safe rule to remember is never to “take” 
crown buds on early and midseason varieties that 
appear before August 15. If no crown buds appear 
on early or midseason varieties, the terminal bud is 
selected or “taken.” With late varieties the terminal 
type of bud is always “taken.” 
If a crown type of bud (Fig. 7) is “taken” all vege- 
tative or shoot buds should be removed. If it is too 
early to ‘‘take” the crown bud all vegetative shoots 
except the strongest one should be removed along 
with the crown bud itself. This process should not be 
delayed too long or crooked stems will result from 
the failure of the strongest shoot to grow straight. 
On terminal buds, all the side flower buds are re- 
moved when large enough to rub out. (Fig. 7.) 

Fig. 3. Wet feet. 

PAGE ELEVEN 
