March 15, 1913 



HORTICULTURE 



377 



The Northern Suburbs. 

 For many years past those of the 

 London parks which are under the con- 

 trol of the London County Council 

 have provided for the benefit of the 

 public gratuitous displays of chrysan- 

 themums lasting from about the mid- 

 dle of October to the middle of Novem- 

 ber. What are known as the Royal 

 parks — that is, St. Jame's, Regent's, 

 Hyde Park, etc., do not provide this 

 highly appreciated display. 



It may be assumed without further 

 explanation that the attendance of vis- 

 itors varies. At some of the parks 

 there is an enormous crowd, especially 

 on Sundays when a long line of eager 

 sightseers has to be regulated for some 

 hours. The finer the day the more vis- 

 itors and even on week days — Saturday 

 afternoons for instance — the number 

 is very large. If you are a specialist 

 it is amusing to mingle with the crowd 

 and listen to the comments. Some- 

 times a little group of amateurs get 

 together and in a critical frame, of 

 mind pass their opinion with a free- 

 dom that shows a fullness of knowl- 

 edge of the art of chrysanthemum cul- 

 ture. 



We begin our round at Waterlow 

 Park, the northernmost of all. It is 

 situated on the heights above Highgate 

 Hill, a place of some historic interest 

 as our readers will remember who 

 have heard the story of Dick Whitting- 

 ton and his cat. The underground tube 

 railway takes us to the foot of the hill 

 and a tram car does the rest. But a 

 fine autumn morning encourages us to 

 wander gently up the hill, and in doing 

 so we are rewarded by a sight of the 

 stone that marks the spot where Whit- 

 tington as a poor boy journeying to the 

 great city sat and rested, and as the 

 story goes, heard the bells of Bow 

 church ringing and heard, or fancied 

 he heard, in their music the words: 



Turn again Whittington, 

 Thrice Lord Mayor of London. 



Every boy, or, at any rate, every 

 British boy, knows the story. The 

 stone today is at the edge of the pave- 

 ment opposite a public house of the 

 same sign. It is enclosed withip an 

 iron railing and surmounted with a 

 gas lamp. On two sides of the stone 

 is the following inscription: 



Whittington Stone. 

 Sir Richard Whittington 

 Thrice Lord Mayor of London 

 1397— Richard 11. 

 140S— Henry IV. 

 1420— Henry V. 

 Sheriff in 1393. 



This stone was restored, railings fixed 

 and lamp erected, A. D. 1S69. 



We wander on, slowly up the hill, 

 and think how different are the sur- 

 roundings from what they were in 

 Whittington's day. London has en- 

 croached upon the country; its never- 

 ending ugly rows of bricks and mor- 



tar push in all directions and absorbs 

 old-time country villages and hamlets 

 in its rapacious maw. At length we 

 reach St. Joseph's church and along- 

 side is a little lane with an entrance 

 to the park. London owes this park 

 to the generosity of Sir Sidney Water- 

 low, himself a Lord Mayor. It is a 

 charming old-world place, formerly a 

 private residence, and of which we 

 may say more another time. 



The greenhouse in which the chrys- 

 anthemums are staged consists of sev- 

 eral divisions, the first one, or en- 

 trance, being the most capacious. 

 It contains a bank of plants right and 

 left, tastefully arranged with orna- 

 mental greenery, and we notice Japan- 

 ese, singles and a few of the best- 

 known decoratives help to enliven the 

 display. The varieties are mainly 

 older ones than we see at our society's 

 shows but they are admirable for the 

 purpose of public display and are 

 chosen more for variety and brilliancy 

 of color than for size and prize-win- 

 ning points. 



The next house is rather narrow and 

 it is evident it is a case of adaptation. 

 The house was never built for a pub- 

 lic display, but many rich decorative 

 effects have been obtained. The nest 

 house is similar with the exception 

 that singles are a little more freely 

 used. Buttercup, a grand yellow in- 

 curved, strikes us here as being wor- 

 thy of a note of commendation. 



As we approach the exit in front of 

 us lies an old-fashioned hardy herba- 

 ceous garden. It is past its best at 

 this date, but a few little bits of color 

 remain. Michaelmas daisies, early 

 chrysanthemums. Anemone japonica, 

 geunis, sunflowers, hydrangeas, stocks, 

 evening primrose, etc., are making 

 their last effort and then farewell. It 

 is here that can be seen the Shakes- 

 peare garden. At the corner of the 

 cross walks there is a tablet notifying 

 the fact and we may at some future 

 time have just a few words to say 

 about this attempt to collect in one 

 group all the plants and herbs men- 

 tioned by the great poet. 



We have now to make our way to 

 Finsbury Park, a very different kind of 

 place, for it is much larger in extent 

 and on a dead level. Formerly there 

 were two displays here but the old 

 wooden chrysanthemum house, near 

 the manor gate, has been abolished 

 and the show is now held in the large 

 conservatory hardby. The grouping is 

 most tastefully and artistically done 

 and the plants are finely grown. Big 

 solid substantial blooms in all sections 

 are displayed which bear testimony to 

 the capacity of the grower. There is 

 a good display of Pteris and other 

 ferns used as an edging. Altogether 

 there are about 2.500 plants in pots. 

 Roughly speaking the visitors average 

 500 daily, but on Sundays they total 

 something like SOOO. 



Victoria Park is properly North East. 

 It is situated in a densely crowded 

 part of the city where the working 

 class dwell in large numbers. It is a 

 very large park, well kept, and a 

 great boon to the denizens of this lo- 

 cality. The chrysanthemum show here 



has always been one of the most at- 

 tractive, the variety and extent of the 

 display being the chief factors. The 

 house is a span 25x100, and as we enter 

 it we look around and see a long road- 

 way leading to it, bordered as far as 

 the eye can reach with groups of 

 brightly colored pompons and others 

 showing the outdoor capacity of the 

 chrysanthemum as a town flower. In- 

 side the house we find the collection 

 arranged right and left in two sloping 

 banks of brilliant color and a serpen- 

 tine path running from end to end. 

 We are conscious as soon as we enter 

 of the skilful decorative talent of the 

 superintendent. It is beyond all praise 

 and difficult to describe. Rising high 

 above the banks of color at intervals 

 are arranged great bushes of singles 

 and decoratives. The crossbars of the 

 glass structure have Glennys and Run- 

 dies trained to them. The ends and 

 sides of the house seem to be covered 

 with a carpet of living blooms of the 

 most freely flowered varieties. Each 

 bay of the roof has a different color 

 trained up under it and beneath, of 

 course, are the big show blooms. As 

 an edging dwarf plants of singles are 

 freely employed. 



C. Hakman Payne. 



A CO-OPERATIVE ADVERTISING 

 SUGGESTION. 



The Sales Promotion Department of 

 the Daily Newspaper Association has 

 sent a copy of the following letter 

 to the secretary of every Florists' 

 Club in the country: 



Dear Sir: — 



Is the magnitude of the florist business 

 in general what it should be? We think 

 not. 



First of all, the retail florist does not 

 think it worth while to let the public 

 know where his place of business is, or 

 that he is in business at all, or that there 

 are such things as flowers in existence. 

 He does know that a certain few of the 

 well-to-do or we.Tlthy class buy flowers 

 at all seasons— no matter what the price — 

 but overlooks the fact that multitudes 

 might "get the habit" if reminded dally 

 that flowers are within their reach. 



We suggest that in every community 

 where there are several florists, every day 

 in the year in the bical newspapers of such 

 communities an advertisement be inserted 

 simply advertising "FLOWERS." 



This daily reminder would soon have 

 the effect of educating the public to boy 

 flower.s, and the dealer would reap the 

 benefit in manifold sales. His increased 

 business means more business for the 

 grower, and this means more business for 

 the importer, and so on. Thus, you see. 

 everyone is benefited. 



You may have the idea that the cost of 

 advertising is too much. The average rate 

 per line for space in the leading news- 

 papers in twenty of the largest cities Is 

 but 16 2-3 cents, and In smaller cities It 

 is much less. Say, there are five florists 

 in each community to share this expense; 

 (hat would mean a trifle more than 3 cents 

 per line each day for each dealer, and he 

 gets that back several times over in his 

 profit on the sale of a single rose. 



Will you not be good enough to submit 

 this letter to the members of vour club at 

 the next meeting? If you are in the least 

 interested, please let us tell you more 

 about newspaper advertising and how to do 

 it economically and effectively: and It 

 there is any further information any of 

 your members desire on the subject, please 

 do not hesitate to write us. Any advice 

 or co-operation within our power will be 

 cheerfully given without the slightest ob- 

 ligation on your part. 



