HORTICULTURE 



November 4, 1905 



Chrysanthemums in England 



SOME NEW VARIETIES 



Norman Davis, the well-known grower of chrysanthe- 

 mums, is first in the field this year with promising new 

 seedling Japanese varieties. We noted on October 14th 

 several very promising sorts, viz. : Norman Davis, a Jap, 

 with long drooping florets, color rich chestnut with gold 

 reverse. The Mikado is another striking flower of great 

 size, with florets rather broad, drooping, curly at the 

 tips, the color reddish crimson and a reverse of old gold. 

 British Empire is another of big build and a solid look- 

 ing bloom, color deep pure golden yellow. New Treaty 

 has rather broad florets, big flowers, compact form, 

 color a very beautiful shade of rich golden yellow. 



HARDY BORDER VARIETIES 



These are apparently more popular than ever. Al- 

 ready, before the middle of October, we have had in 

 London two shows, largely composed of little else. The 

 show at the Crystal Palace and the show at the E. H. S. 

 Hall, organized by "The Evening News," gave abun- 

 dant proof of the utility of these very attractive flowers. 



The colors are much more brilliant than when first 

 introduced and growers are yearly improving the stock. 

 M. Aug Nonin, of Paris, has latterly turned his hand 

 to these kinds with great success, for he has produced 

 some charming little bushy, dwarf growing varieties- 

 that are very free-flowering and of great decorative 

 value for the border. 



A few names of the most striking sorts seen this sea- 

 son may be useful. I refrain from verbal decriptions, 

 as these can be got from the catalogues of any trade 

 grower: Carrie and Jason, both good yellows; Goach- 

 er's Crimson, Crimson Pride, Market Red, Mytchett 

 Pet, Fleiive Eouge, Flajnbeau in various shades of 

 crimson. Pinkish and lilac mauves more or less intense 

 are found in Mme. Marie Massee Perle Eose, Eubis, 

 Goacher's Pink. Of whites there are considerable num- 

 bers, many of them quite new, viz. : Fee Japanaise, 

 Queen of Barlies, L'Esperance, Precoce d' Orleans, 

 Glacier, La Parisienne, Parisiana, Eoi des Blancs, Dame 

 Blanche, Etoile Blanche. Buffs and bronzes, De la 

 Guille, Le Pactole (large), Louis Lemaire. There are 

 many others, mostly older sorts, that are extensively 

 grown and shown at our exhibitions. Some favorites, 

 perhaps as well known on your side, are Horace Martin, 

 Comtesse Foucher dc Careil, Eoi des Precoces, L J. 

 Quintus, White Quintus, Meduse, Harvest Home, most 

 of the Massee sports, Market White, Ryecroft Glory, etc. 



Echoes from England 



A GREAT FRUIT SHOW, 



On the 10th, 11th and 12th of October the Eoyal 

 Horticultural Society held a great exhibition of British 

 grown fruits. It was an excellent display of home 

 grown produce, and thoroughly proved that even finer 

 fruit can be grown at home than is sent to us from 

 abroad. It is evidently not the faidt of the grower 

 that we import fruit to the value of several million 

 pounds annually ; the root of the evil must be attributed 

 to such causes as the difficulty of obtaining suitable 

 land on satisfactory terms, the harsh way in which the 

 fruit grower is treated by some of the existing laws, etc. 

 The British grower evidently has a good deal to learn 

 in the way of grading, packing and marketing his fruit 

 before he can compete with importers. In some eases 

 the high railway rates are a serious handicap. One of 

 the finest displays of orchard-house fruit ever exhibited 

 was shown by Messrs. T. Elvers & Son, Lawbridgeworth, 

 the famous growers of pot fruit trees. One pot-tree of 

 Apple Cox's Pomona carried 30 very fine fruits, and 

 another of the variety Gaseoyne's Scarlet bore 24 fruits. 

 One often hears it stated that pot fruit trees do not pay 

 for culture. But when they are successfully grown they 

 are valuable plants. It is true they require careful 

 treatment, as regards watering, repotting, etc., but they 

 will merit a little extra attention. Messrs. Eivers ex- 

 hibited some magnificent fruits of apples, pears and 

 plums grown in an orchard house. They were perfect 

 in size and color and, of course, far more beautiful than 

 fruit grown out of doors could be. 



EARLY FLOWERING CHRYSANTHEMUMS 



The Michaelmas Daisy is no longer the chief hardy 

 flower of the garden during the autumn, for it has a 

 serious rival in the early flowering chrysanthemum. 

 There are now many beautiful varieties, and some 

 nurserymen make a specialty of this plant. During the 

 last ten years it has made wonderful progress in popular 

 favor. At the exhibition of early flowering chrysanthe- 

 mums, held last week under the auspices of the National 

 Chrysanthemum Society, the flowers were shown in 

 large bunches in vases chiefly, and so made a far more 

 attractive show than the stiff, ugly, monster blooms 

 which are shown on boards at the later exhibitions. 



Early flowering chrysanthemums are a feature in the 

 London market now. Acres and acres of them are 

 grown out of doors for market, and the flowers com- 

 mand a ready sale. Of course, there is considerable risk 

 in growing them out in the open fields at this time of 

 year, for frost mav come any night. The other day a 

 very large grower of these flowers for the London mar- 

 ket said he might lose 500 if severe frost occurred, for 



