The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1891-06-19
Chrysanthemums,

haze a chrysanthemum show this fall
I write few notes ON the cultivation
and care of this most popular flower.
Coming, as it does, the last of the guy
boomers of the season, when the sharp,
frosty nights of autumn have put all
our summer friends to sleep until the
dawn of a new spring morn, then in
all her radiant beauty our queen comes
to greet us.
Though chrysanthemums will grow
and produce bloom with Indifferent
care, We cannot expect to bring them
to perfection without the exercise of
some skill and good cultivation in the
season of their growth.
In the first place, to grow fine exhi-
bition plants we must have good,
strong, thrifty young stock plants with
single stem for our foundation. A
plant six inches high is large enough
when first set out into the open ground.
Any ordinary garden soil, if not too
wet, is rich enough for chrysanthe-
NUNS. The location should be such
that the surfacs water will drain off or
the hot sun will scald and kill the
plants. If the cultivation is done
with the aid of a horse aud cultivator,
set in rows three feet apart, and two
feet apart in the row; when done by
hand, two feet apart each way will do.
When setting out, plant firmly, and if
the weather is dry water, thoroughly
next to the roots and cover with dry
soil to prevent baking. The care from
now on consists in good cultivation,
systematic pruning and watching for
the black fly which often becomes very
troublesome. When the plants have
attained heighth of twelve inches
the tip should be pinched out to cause
them to throw out laterals, and these
in turn should be cut back when they
have grown out the proper length, al
ways keeping in mind the shape you
wish the plant to assume when placed
OH the exhibition stand. About Au-
gust l, all pruning should cease, as the
plant will then be forming buds. In
very dry weather the ground around
the roots should be well soaked with
water just before night for every other
night during the continuance of the
drouth. The next morning after wat
ering the plants, hoe around them to
keep the soil from becoming baked.
About the middle of September we be-
gin our preparations for taking up and
potting the plants. About ten days or
two weeks before the plants are to be
lifted, we take sharp, strong bladed
butcher-knife and cut down into the
soil the length of the knife blade, in n
circle around the plant, about four and
one-half or five inches from its base,
leaving a ball of earth around the
roots about the size of the box or pot
intended for its reception. The object |
in doing this is to make the plant
throw out mass of fine rootlets near |
the base for feeders and to keep the
plant from receiving too great shock |
in transferring. use boxes from six to |
eight inches square and find them
large enough for my largest plants.
Before putting in the plant, bore sew
eral holes in the bottom, then put in /
some cinders and a small wisp of hay
for drainage. When putting in the
plant fill up solid around the roots with
rich soil, water thoroughly and set i'm
partial shade and out of the wind.
Now, if you wish fine flowers, remove
all the i'll shaped buds as soon as large
enough to show their form, aud give
the plants liquid manure once a week.
y. l.. HARMON.