CHRYSANTHEMUM S 
CULTURAL NOTES 
May I present a few helpful notes regarding the cul- 
ture of Chrysanthemums. On receiving plants from 
the nursery special care should be taken for a few 
days until they become established in the pots or new 
location. 
SUMMER PRUNING OR STOPPING 
When the plant shows signs of becoming established 
in the new position, the growing tip should be re- 
moved, to induce branching. Generally it is advis- 
able to pinch out the top of the shoot after three or 
four pairs of leaves have formed, but in the writer’s 
garden experience even better results may be had 
by removing the tip after the second pair of leaves 
is mature. Three to five shoots will appear, which, 
in turn should be stopped, to induce branching. 
The importance of this can not be overestimated. 
Only too often the garden chrysanthemums grown 
in small places are great sprawling plants, almcst 
like shrubby climbers, which yield crooked stalks 
for cutting. A little experience will enable one to 
decide the best number of stoppings for each varie- 
ty, as some branch freely with one or two stoppings, 
while others must be checked repeatedly. No pinch- 
ing out should be done after the middle of July, as 
this might bring the bloom too far In the autumn. Un- 
der this system the plants will usually form broad 
spreading bushes with erect, upright branches strong 
enough to bear the large flowers coming later. 
FERTILIZING 
From about the time of the last stopping, extra feed- 
ing can be given to advantage. As midsummer is also 
the time of greatest heat, extra water should be given 
if the soil is at all likely to dry out, and the surface 
should be thoroughly hoed, to insure a thick mulch. 
The soil should be watered before the fertilizers are 
applied. This extra feeding is often omitted for the 
garden varieties, but usually is more than worth the 
trouble. In any case it should be stopped by the time 
the color begins to show in flower bulbs. 
STAKING 
The period of midsummer growth is especially im- 
portant after last stopping of growth has been made 
for it is this time that stakes should be driven beside 
those plants which grow so tall that their stems will 
not support them. A stake early in the summer will 
insure the erect growth of the flowering shoots, an 
item of no small importance when the blooms are cut. 
DISBUDDING 
The first bud produced by a chrysanthemum is cal- 
led a “crown” bud. On the large-flowered varieties 
this is the bud which usually will produce the largest 
bloom. Almost as soon as it appears, branches grow 
from the axils of the topmost leaves. If the crown bud 
is to be saved, those must be removed at once. When 
they are removed. all the strength of the plant rises 
to the crown bud, giving it a great development. If it 
is not to be saved, and indeed in most of the garden 
varieties known to the writer it is often abortive, the 
shoots near it should remain. If a single flower is 
wanted, save but one; if many flowers are wanted, all 
should be kept. Each will develop and produce termi- 
nal buds in clusters of from three to six or seven. 
If the strongest one of these is saved, it will produce 
a large flower, but for garden decoration more should 
be saved, producing “sprays” of bloom. 
The desirability of disbudding varieties of hardy chry- 
santhemums is largely a matter of personal taste. The 
writer prefers not to disbud any of the outdoor plants 
except some of the early-flowering commercial varie- 
ties of Chinese and Japanese sorts and members of 
the groups known in the trade as decorative and ear- 
ly-flowering chrysanthemums. The former are great- 
ly helped by disbudding, and the latter produce mod. 
erate sized flowers of great beauty, both in the garden 
and for cutting. 
SHELTERS 
By the time of flowering the season will have advan- 
ced until there is a danger of frost. Chrysanthemum 
plants are quite frost hardy, but the half-open flowers 
especially of white and pink varieties, are badly dam- 
aged. A certain amount of danger can be averted by 
choosing portions of the garden where frosts do the 
least damage. The matter of artificial protection each 
person must decide for himself. Unquestionably it re- 
quires considerable labor to prepare temporary shel- 
ter of any kind. Most commonly a frame is built over 
the bed on which hotbed sash can be laid for roof- 
ing and the sides covered with burlap or similar mat- 
