fF 
i. 
-» for breeding and developing new va- 
rieties and producing cultured stock. 
The other is a Production Plant, spread 
over 10/2 acres, where only tested, 
proven varieties are grown On a gigantic 
commercial scale. All the greenhouses 
are 800 feet long . . . the three largest 
being 80 feet wide and the others vary- 
ing from 14-20 feet in width. 
Already producing over 300 varieties, 
Our growers are continuously working 
to develop new and better varieties to 
add to their ever-expanding list. This 
year there are nine additions. 
A tour through the grounds and 
buildings convinces the visitor that the 
entire operation is scientific, systematic 
and efficient. 
The particular pride—and one of the 
most important features—of the Re- 
search and Development Plant is the 
year-round flowering program, which 
will soon make chrysanthemum cut- 
tings available to growers throughout 
the entire 12-month period. There are 
twenty-four benches, each 150 feet 
long, all in gravel culture. Two hundred 
and thirty-six year-round flowering va- 
rieties are included—about 125 of these 
being commercial varieties and the rest 
developmental varieties. 
The earliest bench was started May 
13 this year and scheduled to bloom 
the middle of September. Every three 
weeks another bench of the same va- 
rieties is planted. The plan is to rotate 
them so that from September 15 on 
they will bloom continuously and in- 
definitely. 
In three cloth houses, experiments 
are conducted to test the plants’ re- 
sponse to shade, which brings them in 
earlier. One of the best characteristics 
of the chrysanthemum is that you can 
do most anything with it, as far as 
growth is concerned, by regulating the 
length of the day. All three houses 
contain the same varieties, but each is 
shaded at different times. 
Adjacent to the cloth houses is a 
planting of hardy varieties (preferably, 
garden varieties) which are under scru- 
tiny for adaptability to growing in 
clumps and to usual home use. 
Breeding New Varieties 
In the Plant Breeding Department 
are seedlings of crosses from which 
new varieties will come. The program 
here is similar to that of the year-round 
flowering, in that the plan is to find the 
specific spot where any variety fits into 
the flowering program. Once the selec- 
tions are made, they go from Breeding 
to Development for further work. 
Every plant is carefully checked to 
Left. Bench area being expanded 40-50 per cent for 1947 crop. 
Right. Year-round flowering program section and tts supervisor. 

