Los Angeles herald., 1910-06-12
cHRYsANTHEMuMs

There is no flower, not even the car
nation, dahlia or peony, which has
made such a steady improvement in
the last forty years as the chrysanthe-
num- Single, some double and the
cactus varieties of dahlias have made
marvellous improvement, but the show
dahlia is very much where it was thirty
years ago and unless there are some
varieties of roses and better grown
than l have seen in the last fifteen
years the old sorts such as Alfred
Colomb, A. X. Williams, Baroness
Rothschild, Marie Beauman, Reynolds
Hole, Marechal Neil, etc, that were
winners thirty-five years ago, could win
today if properly done. But the man
who would show the old standby. of
thirty years ago in chrysanthemums
such as Elaine, Golden George Glenny,
Matilda Martha and others, would not
require a suit case to carry home his
ribbons and prize cards. Chrysanthe-
NUNS have made a steady improvement
all along the line in singles, pompone
Anemones, the incurVed and ref1exed.
The colors of today are about endless,
blacks and blues being alone missing.
But as we have a blue aster there is
hope for a blue mum. Perhaps the
greatest Improvement is in the bronze;
yellowS being a good second. There
have also been some grand reds sent out
the last three years. Then again our
chrysanthemums thirty years ago COM
menced blooming about the second
week in October, and perhaps there
would be a few blooms left the last
weeks in November. Nowadays we ex
pect blooms from August to Christmas
That beautiful Yellow, Golden Glow, is
the first to be welcomed and Jennie
Nonin, Florence Pullman, General Hut
ton, are quite numerous near Christ
mas time. There are endless ways of
growing NUNS, and people have vary
ing ideas as to when plants should be
started. We prefer taking our cuttings
about the first of April. This has been
our rule for the last five years and we
have been fairly successful. We prefer
a cutting about four inches long, rather
smaller than a lead pencil with the
joints about half an inch apart. Those
that will snap when bent will root
quickest. Place in clean, sharp sand
about four inches deep with good drain
age. Put the cuttings, which should be
taken with sharp knife, about an inch
apart, and an inch deep. A piece of
lath is a good thing to divide the rows
as it gives plenty of room and the rows
have to be straight. After inserting
give good watering to settle the cut
tings. Keep the sand moist and shade
from direct rays of the sun and protect
worse than the sun. When cuttings are
nicely rooted we prefer putting them at
once in their permanent quarters, al
though the rule is to pot, using 21a
inch pots.
This is all right, providing they are
not allowed to get pot bound. Last
year we had to pot some plants be-
cause we could not clear the ground to
plant in. Others were planted direct
from the cutting boxes; those from the
sand making the better plants, so
much so that we could tell the differ
ence all through the season. The after
treatment was exactly the same. In
we find about twelve inches in
the row about right the rows two feet
apart. Nuns are gross feeders, and
prefer a heavy soil, so don't forget
to fork in a liberal supply of good,
well rottel COW manure. When plant
ing dig a hole with your trowel place
the plant against side with roots
down; press the soil firmly
against the plant, leaving a basin that
will hold about a quart of water. Don't
forget the water. Stake the low grow
ing varieties, such as Etherington, F. S.
Wallis, Mrs. George Heume. etc. We
find a split shake will make about ten