The Weekly Florists' Review^ 



835 



Mr. C. W. Ward's Display of Carnations at the New York Show. 



do not lend themselves to stopping for 

 refinement and the difference in bud se- 

 lection is a matter of paramount im- 

 portance. If attempts are made to get 

 them early by taking earl}' buds the 

 flowers come rough, and that is one of 

 the greatest bars to successful exhibit- 

 ing in this country." 



Another factor in the case is the ques- 

 tion of transport. My informant tells 

 me that in getting young plants from the 

 States in past years it was never possi- 

 ble to get them over soon enough in the 

 year to flower them well the first season 

 after arrival, and that means that they 

 were often knocked out of the running 

 for up to date exhibitors. 



How far these opinions are shared by 

 the general body of our trade importers 

 1 do not know, but it is not the first 

 time similar complaints have been made 

 to me when going the rounds of our 

 trade displays. If anything contained in 

 this paper should tend to a revival of 

 Oduimerce in clirysanthemums witli this 

 country and to American chrysanthe- 

 mums once again occupying something 

 like their old position, both I and many 

 other lovers of the autumn queen will 

 not fail to do them justice and Ameri- 

 can growers will once again share in 

 the honor of producing varieties that 

 will help materially to increase their 

 fame and pecuniary advantage. To this 

 end the present papei- has been compiled 

 and the time devoted to its compilation 

 will be considered well spent if such a 

 result can be brought about. 



HOUSES AND BENCHES MOST SUIT- 

 ABLE FOR CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 



BY WILLIAM SCOTT. 



[Presented at the Clirysantbemum Society of 

 America at the Chicago coiiventlon ] 



When first asked to contribute some- 

 thing toward this convention it was sug- 

 gested to me tliat I might better be able 

 to say a few words about the most sen- 

 sible structure, benches and ventilation, 

 rather than the methods of culture: and 

 with that suggestion I entirely agreed, 

 for I am well aware that there are hun- 

 dreds of men in our profession. iKitb 



commercial and in private gardens, that 

 can teach me in the culture of our Queen 

 of Autumn, and have brought this glor- 

 ious fiower to a seeming point of per- 

 fection. Yet we must not say that fur- 

 ther improvements cannot be made in 

 this or any other flower. Xo one knows 

 what can or will be done, and it ap- 

 pears to me that in those eighteen or 

 twenty flowers that were exhibited at 

 iladison Square Garden two weeks ago 

 after a passage across the ocean on the 

 good ship "Campania." and which were 

 in marvelously perfect condition, there 

 were at least half a dozen that, if not 

 larger, were more beautiful and hand- 

 some than any existing varieties that I 

 have had the opportunity to see. Per- 

 haps in size the desired height has been 

 reached, yet in delicate coloring, form 

 and texture there is a further field 

 ahead. 



In considering what is the most suit- 

 able house for developing the chrysan- 

 themum we must allow one fact, and 

 that is that in this country, at least, 

 no one can afford to let the chrysanthe- 

 mum be the chief object in view. It 

 must occupy the house for five or six 

 months that after Xovember must be 

 utilized until the following .June by one 

 or more crops which from a money point 

 of view are more valuable than the 

 chrysanthemum, and the latter crops 

 have cost more; for while little more 

 than labor can be charged against the 

 mums, there is a heavy fuel bill against 

 the winter occupants. Fortunately the 

 chrysanthemum asks for no special 

 house, and while we are studying and 

 improving the architecture of our houses 

 for reses and carnations with a view 

 to obtaining eveiy ray of light in the 

 dark and stormy winter- days, the chrys- 

 anthemum is planted on the benches 

 in the bright and sunny month of June 

 and is cut before the dark days of win- 

 ter arrive. Fortunately the majority, 

 though not all, of our October and Xo- 

 vember months have bright, clear days 

 and cool nights. I would say the ideal 

 weather for these flowers. 



As the growth of these plants is made 

 iliiiinir tlic summer months, wlien in 



normal seasons we have all the light and 

 sun desired, it matters, I believe, little 

 or nothing whether the house runs north 

 and south or east and west, provided the 

 glass is not of too small a size, but 

 scarcely anyone now builds with less 

 than 16 inches between sash bars. As 

 above remarked, chrysanthemums are in- 

 variably grown in houses that later will 

 be used for another important crop or 

 crops. One man will fill up the benches 

 with azaleas that have been kept in 

 a cold frame, and Easter lilies that 

 have also been in cold frame will oc- 

 cupy the space lately vacated by Tim- 

 othy Eaton, and the florist who grows 

 a general assortment of decorative and 

 bedding plants, as the writer does, is 

 always glad of the large additional space 

 that the exit of the mum affords. For 

 this reason, it appears to me. they are 

 jireferable. for I can well remember the 

 time, twenty-five years ago, when a large 

 proportion of our benches were idle dur- 

 ing four or five summer months. 



A Xew England grower, whose name 

 I am not at liberty to mention, because 

 I may not have his program down cor- 

 lectly, says he picks a million single 

 violets during the winter: plants chrys- 

 anthemums, mostly early varieties, in 

 .June. When cut. these are succeeded by 

 the nolets. After Easter the violets are 

 thrown out and a wonderful mammoth 

 candytuft is planted, which comes in 

 just right for ilemorial Day and is a 

 magnificent flower. It is then time to 

 renew the soil and prepare again for 

 the mums. Here are three simple crops 

 filling out the year, and considering the 

 fuel consumed and labor involved, is, I 

 believe, most profitable. 



^Mien your houses are too far out to 



send in by wagon such plants as lilies, 



azaleas, etc., I cannot see that you can 



afford to occupy very much space with 



I mums, because there is nothing to suc- 



j ceed them. Roses and carnations occupy 



I the benches the entire year, and young 



I stock of these occupy comparatively 



I small space, and that not until after 



[ February. You will think I am wander- 



I ing from my subject. but what I have said 



I about other plants is merely to illustrate 



that the chry.santhemiun is subservient 



to other crops, and is grown in houses 



built more with a view to the welfare of 



winter crops than to their own. 



For a good many years the regulation 

 rose house was built with the long span 

 to the south, with the benches rising 

 from the front or south bench to the 

 north or back bench, which would be 

 within three feet of the back slope and 

 6 or 7 feet from the ground. Many 

 growers have by no means lost faith in 

 this style of house, and on a recent visit 

 to ^ladison, X. J., I went through some 

 splendid new ranges built in this man- 

 ner, and the roses were looking well. In 

 this style of house some of the finest 

 chrysanthemums raised in this country 

 liave been grown. I recall visiting ilr. 

 John May some years ago. and saw on 

 his middle and back benches of one of 

 these houses some of the finest and most 

 uniformly grand chrysanthemums I have 

 ever seen. Possibly he wanted to use 

 that house for young stock and did not 

 use it for roses, but surely you would 

 not build this style of house if you in- 

 tended it for mums to be succeeded by 

 azaleas, lilies, pot roses or other Easter 

 crops. Undoubtedly these houses will 

 grow roses, carnations, chrysanthemums 

 or anything else that needs the fullest 

 light, but they are expensive to build, 

 must be detached, leaving from 20 to 



