4G0 



HOETICULTUBB 



November 9, 1918 



CHRYSANTHEMUMS AT THE DE- 

 PARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



For the first time in the sixteen 

 years since it was established, the an- 

 nual Chrysanthemum Show of the 

 United States Department of Agricul- 

 ture has been held under lock and key. 

 Owing to the ban laid upon public 

 meetings by the health authorities in 

 their campaign against the influenza 

 epidemic, the Superintendent of the 

 Bureau of Plant Industry greenhouses, 

 has been unable to throw the depart- 

 ment's Chrysanthemum Exhibit open 

 to the public, and thus thousands of 

 Washington people who have been ac- 

 customed to seeing the show year af- 

 ter year have been forced to forego 

 viewing one of the most attractive 

 floral displays ever staged by the de- 

 partment. Only a limited number of 

 persons in oSicial circles have been 

 privileged to see the massed display 

 though many will have opportunity lo 

 see individual blooms from the collec- 

 tion, since by direction of the Secreta- 

 ry of Agriculture, the superintendent 

 is systematically cutting hundreds of 

 magnificent seedlings and sending 

 them to the sick and wounded soldiers 

 in the military hospitals in and about 

 Washington. 



A dozen or more new varieties are 

 featured in this year's show. Among 

 these the center of attraction is a 

 great snow-white seedling that has 

 been named for Mrs. Woodrow Wil- 

 son. This bloom has many of the 

 characteristics of the well established 

 favorite "Queen Mary," and the "Mrs. 

 Woodrow Wilson" bids fair to become 

 a standard commercial variety. 



As was the case with last year's 

 show, when the "General Pershing" 

 was among the leading attractions, 

 the military note is very much in the 

 ascendency in the nomenclature of the 

 specimens on exhibition. "Marshal 

 Foch" leads the military delegation, a 

 very striking Japanese seedling of a 

 deep wine color. "Lleutenant-General 

 Liggett," named in honor of the Amer- 

 ican officer who led in the offensive 

 that wiped out the St. Mehiel salient, 

 is an enormous bloom, red with gold 

 reverse, the largest produced by the 

 department greenhouses this season. 

 Another red and gold seedling has 

 been named for "Admiral Sims," sail- 

 ors from EngUsh, French, and Ameri- 

 can ships participating in the christen- 

 ing. Beautiful examples of the "Gen- 

 eral Pershing" and the "General 

 Kuhn" of last year's creation, and of 

 the older "Marshal Joffre," were 

 among the blooms on view that bore 

 the names of military or naval heroes. 

 Three magnificent blooms, each red 



Chrysanthemums at the Department of Agriculture. 



with gold reverse, but each differing 

 from the others in detail, represented 

 the rank and file of the American 

 army in the display. They were 

 named for "Corporal James S. En- 

 right," and "Privates James Bethel 

 Gresham and Merle D. Hay," the im- 

 mortal three who were the first of 

 many thousand American soldiers to 

 give their lives for freedom on French 

 soil. 



Among other new varieties of more 

 or less special interest may be men- 

 tioned the "Mme. Jusserand," a peach 

 blossom pink named in honor of the 

 wife of the French Ambassador; the 

 "Mrs. Asbury F. Lever," irridescent 

 pink, in honor of the wife of the chair- 

 man of the House Committee of Agri- 

 culture; the "Helen Houston," pom- 

 pon seedling, in honor of the daughter 

 of the Secretary of Agriculture; the 

 "Mrs. Helen P. Taylor," white pom- 

 pon, tinged with pink, in honor of the 

 wife of the Chief of the Bureau of 

 Plant Industry, the "Mrs. Karl P. Kel- 

 lerman," brick red with gold reverse, 

 in honor of the wife of the Assistant 

 Chief of the Bureau; and the 'Mrs. 

 Holbrook Blinn," variegated pink pom- 

 pon, in honor of the wife of the well 

 known actor, now touring with 

 Blanche Bates in the war play "Get 

 Together." 



In answer to the request of the 

 managers of the Brooklyn Botanical 

 Garden for an increase of nearly 

 $11,000 over the appropriation of last 

 year for the maintenance of that in- 

 stitution, the Board of Estimate has 

 cut down the amount from $53,329, 

 given for 1918, to $48,000 for the year 

 1919. 



HARDY CHRYSANTMEMUMS AT 

 MADISON. 



One cannot speak of chrysanthe- 

 mums now without instinctively 

 thinking of Totty. Chrysanthemums 

 are far from being C. H. Totty's only 

 hobby but a visit to his place at this 

 time of the year shows that the 

 queen of Autumn holds a high place 

 in his affections. 



While the big popular show varie- 

 ties still retain their prominence In 

 his lists, especial consideration is 

 given to several other sections which 

 have come prominently into notice 

 within the past few years, such as 

 the hardy pompons, the so-called 

 "single" earlies and anemone-flowered. 

 The large flowered race of pompons 

 have received increasing attention 

 and have been developed particularly 

 in the direction of more cheerful 

 colors and greater purity of tone. 

 Some of the varieties showing great- 

 est improvement are from abroad and 

 others, equally advanced, are seed- 

 lings raised by Mr. Totty. Of those 

 achieving the greatest popularity we 

 might name Connie Dick, yellow, Capt. 

 Z. W. Cook, deep pink, Lilian Doty, 

 pink. Little Gem, white, and White 

 Doty. Among these pompons are 

 some that are seedlings raised by 

 E. M. Byrnes of the Department of 

 Agriculture at Washington. Capt. 

 Cook is one of these; Thelma, dark 

 crimson, Rena, purple, and Mrs. Nellie 

 Klanis, a symmetrical pink, are 

 others, but many are still under num- 

 ber. There is a great variety in color 

 and altogether the future of this set 

 is very promising. 



The "singles" are not exactly single 

 flowered, for they have about three 



