Los Angeles herald., 1910-02-20

and that it has been constantly fed
the most nourishing food.
The chrysanthemum is naturally a
branching plant with every limb bear
ing a cluster of blooms. For the pro-
duction of prize winners the gardener
sees to it that but one stalk develops
and that but one bloom comes to ma
turity on this stalk.
Thus all the strength of the plant
is centered in this bloom and it is of
monstrous proportions. To accomplish
this result requires constant care from
the time the plant is placed in the
ground in the early spring. One stalk
puts forth and soon the buds that
would develop branches appear. These
are nipped and the strength of them
goes into the main stalk. The plant is
thus attended until it has grown as
high as a mans head, straight, stall
wart stalk.
The plant finally arrives at the
towering age. AS the buds of the
branches were nipped, so are the buds
that would make blooms. But one
flower is allowed to develop and the
strength that would have gone into
hundred lesser blooms is centered in
this one. The care of the plant for
life time had all been that it might
yield one flower that would be the ad-
mlr1tlOn OF all DenOlueTS.
But this is not all the treatment.
This has been but the grooming of the
entry and has had nothing to do with
its feeding. The roots of the plant are
its mouths and it's food is gathered
from the soil
The natural tendency of the chrysan-
themum Is to gormandiZe. 1t is the
greatest eater of any of the denizens
of the garden. 1t will eat raVenonsly
of such food as would be the immediate
death of such plants as the rose, and
thrive and wax fat on 1t. The gar
dener knows this and soon after the
young plant has appeared he begins
feeding it. 1t is grown In heavy ana
rich soil. To this soil is regularly add
ed various fertilizers. First is admin
istered some sort Of prepared fertilizer
consisting of potash.
When the plant has become surfeited
with this food and needs a change OF
diet liouid manure is resorted to. First
COW manure is used, duly sterili7ed
that the seeds of no foreign plants will
develop. The palate of the plant needs
some new flavor and the resort is to
sheep manure There are a score or
materials that NAV be reSorted to dur
ing the months of growth and all are
used to urge on the appetite of this
plant gormand. Finally as 1t nears
hibition is to take place, food is re-
sorted to that will give it's stalk and
leaves and petals a gloss all of their
own. This is ordinary SCOT and 1t
does wonders in making the mature
plant fit. Only care must be taken
that it is not applied at the time
when the flower is forming. for this
will mean the spOtting of the petals
and injury to its coloring.
Through all this process the great
est care must be taken that the plant
is not overfed. Each individual plant
must be studied and the treatment
that it individually needs admin
istered If too much waited is given, for
instance, the plant will show tendency
to droop and wilt. When evidence OF
unhealthy conditions develop. the best
mode of procedure is to stop its food.
A sick plant can no more be fed with
safety than can sick man. The gar
dener becomes a good judge of the
physical well or ill-being of his plants
and needs no physician to write him
a prescription.
So when the chrysanthemum shows
come on in the fall there are always
hundreds of plants present that have
lived all their lives and received the
greatest of care that they might pro-
duce a single bloom of two weeks
life and cease to be.
For general culture directions we
suggest that soil for the chrysanthe-
mum cannot be too good. A rich and
rather heavy loan suits them best.
If the plants are left to grow natural
ly without disbranchng or dlsbudding