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build up vitality in the stock, make no mistake about it. 
As the days lengthen, encourage the stock to wake up thru 
a little more water and heat, and you should soon be ready 
to put vigorous cuttings in the sand. In doing so, it 1s 
necessary to remove or trim back some foliage to conserve 
space, but the less removed the becter. Also, a propagating 
bed should be protected from the sun and air currents by 
the same grade of cloth used for an Aster house. We don't 
like to lay paper on cuttings, for in closely shutting out 
air, humidity is greatly increased about them, encouraging 
rot. As spring temperatures get higher they sometimes rot 
badly, due to the cuttings’ becoming soft. This is checked 
by exposing the stock plants to all possible air and easing 
off on water at the roots. 

An effort has been made to find advantages in rooting 
cuttings thru potting them unrooted in light sandy material 
instead of in the sand of a propagating bed. We do not 
deny that they can be rooted in such material if the cut- 
tings are at least moderately hard or short jointed. But 
we find this plan impractical because more space is used 
in rooting them and there is greater danger of their rotting 
than when in clean sand. The proponent of this idea even 
carries it to the point of doing the permanent planting out 
with unrooted cuttings. The principal advantage claimed 
for it is that it avoids the check the rooted cuttings receive 
in being lifted from the sand. In recent years we have 
become increasingly conscious of the weakening effect on 
plant growth by disturbance of the roots. This is more of 
a jat to most plants than might be appreciated. But trans- 
planting a Mum cutting from the sand with roots but 
a. half to an inch long has, practically speaking, no ill- 
effect worth talking about. 
RAISED OR GROUND BEDS 
Ground or deep beds are of course more economical than 
are raised beds or “tables” as some of our veteran friends 
refer to them. But—if the sub-soil is not naturally well 
drained thru being gravelly, chances are deep beds will 
not dry out promptly as they should. This might be par- 
ticularly so if the greenhouse site is flat or if at all low, 
in which case the water level during excessive rains 
might get dangerously close to the surface. It is pretty safe 
to suggest that if the sub-soil is a clayey one and the 
greenhouse site is located on such as our level prairies, or 
inclined to be at all low, which it of course should not be, 
the cost of two lines of 4 in. drain tile in a 4-5 ft. bed 
will be a very profitable expenditure. This is so not only 
for drainage but for steaming the soil; and these tiles 
have sub-irrigating possibilities and are of some aeration 
value. However, promoting the prompt drying out of the 
soil is their principal value. While 3 in. tile is sometimes 
BETTER MUMS FOR FLORISTS 

Efficient production cf Ball Mum Cuttings means better plants. 
suggested and is evidently all right, we prefer 4 in. How 
deep to lay the tile depends some on the depth of good 
soil in the bed. We use 6 in. siding for ground beds and 
get the tile down 12 in. below top of siding. We find this 
arrangement works out very well for steam sterilizing and 
sub-irrigating of such deep rooting crops as Peas, but we 
do not use this irrigating plan for Mums because of their 
shallower rooting habit. Six inch deep raised beds are of 
course the safest because of the 100% drainage. They are 
also indispensable for most bedding and pot plant grow- 
ing; but for cut flowers generally, and that includes Mums, 
the well-drained deep bed is not only less costly to build 
and maintain, but top results can be had with them if 
lower soil moisture is watched carefully. 
PLANTING 
Some vital phases of Mum growing come under this 
heading. Most important one concerns the condition of 
the young stock when planted. We feel that it is a mistake 
to use early propagated stock, regardless of how it is 
handled. If it is planted in open soil, topped and later 

planted over, as it is ordinarily done, it usually gets a- 
check that frequently brings the growth to more or less of 
a standstill after planting. The same thing happens if they 
are potted and become pot-bound. Two to three weeks in 
a 21% in. pot will be all right, but—most- experienced 
growers know how easy it is to underestimate the time 
needed\to clean out the preceding crop and get ready to 
plant. We have heard growers dispute this point, but we 
know thru frequent comparative plantings that when early 
propagated stock is put out alongside rooted cuttings right 
out of the sand, the result is usually and clearly in favor of 
the unchecked cuttings. If not left in the open soil over 
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