December 2, 1905 



HORTICULTURE 



57^ 



British Horticulture 



THE OIUiYSANTllEMUM SEASON 



November is the month for chrysanthemum shows in 

 this country. Commencing with a very fine exhibition 

 held by the National Society at the Crystal Palace, 

 others have been held at Birmingham, York, Liverpool, 

 Norwich and other centres. Some pessimists have con- 

 tended that this taste for chrysanthemums was only a 

 passing craze and that in time the shows would experi- 

 ence a "slump," but each season the interest awakened 

 is as keen as ever. It is not difficult to discover the 

 ■cause of this perennial popularity. The chrysanthemum 

 is an attractive flower of manifold charms, and it comes 

 .at a season when blossom is comparatively scarce, while 

 the ease with which it can be cultivated is also an impor- 

 tant factor. The "Autumn Queen" also lends itself to 

 cultivation. In some branches of horticulture good 

 results can be obtained without any special cultivation 

 being resorted to, but when a grower stages a handsome 

 array of exhibition blooms it is seen that the art of the 

 cultivator has been exercised to the fullest extent. A 

 remarkable advance has been made in recent years, 

 although there is a feeling in some quarters that the 

 tendency to produce excessively large blooms is being 

 carried too far. As regards the cultivation of the 

 bloom for market, this has been greatly overdone in the 

 last few years, and before the frost set in Covent 

 Garden was flooded with outdoor stuff. 



WINTER CARNATIONS 



Variety has been lent to the chrysanthemum shows by 

 the superb displays of carnations, of which many of the 

 leading nurserymen make a specialty. The introduc- 

 tion of the American varieties, which are steadily 

 increasing in favor, has given a fillip to this branch of 

 horticulture, and the market growers have taken up in 

 earnest the most suitable sorts. A proposal lately 

 made by Mr. Hayward Matthias, a leading expert, of 

 Medstead, Hants, for the holding of a winter show of 

 carnations is likely to meet with considerable support. 

 The National Carnation Society already hold each year 

 a successful show of the summer varieties, and it would 

 not be very diiScult to follow the example of the 

 National Rose Society in arranging a second exhibition 

 for the later sorts. Mr. S. Mortimer, of Rowledge, 

 Farnham, Surrey, at the chrysanthemum show held in 

 the Crystal Palace early in November demonstrated the 

 good effects which can be obtained from showing on long 

 stems such varieties of carnations as Nelson Fisher, 

 Harlowarden, The Belle, Enchantress, Adonis and Fair 

 Maid, and this display served to indicate the possibilities 

 the winter varieties of this subject possess for making 

 an attractive exhibition at this season. It is possible 

 that next year you will see a winter exhibition of carna- 

 tions either arranged by the Horticulture Society or by 

 the National Carnation Society. The variety En- 

 chantress, which is usually to be seen in show collections, 

 is in favor among florists for bouquet work. Mr. M. 

 Garcia, of Covent Garden, who was commissioned to 

 make a bouquet for presentation to Queen Alexandra at 



the opening of Kingsway, a new London thoroughfare, 

 used Enchantress and lilies of the valley, tied with 

 appropriate ribbons. 



A FRUIT TREE NURSERY 



The other day I was able to see the methods of con- 

 ducting a large fruit tree nursery belonging to Mr. J. 

 W. Todman, at Borough Green, Kent. The nursery is 

 situated in the heart of one of the principal fruit grow- 

 ing districts in England. The different varieties of 

 trees are planted in long rows of from .500 to 750, so 

 that it is possible to see at a glance any particular sort 

 the purchaser requires. The chief varieties of apples 

 cultivated are New! on Wonder, Wellington, Bramley's 

 Seedling, Lane's Prince Albert, King of Pippins, War- 

 ner's King, Beauty of Bath, Lord Derby, Worcester 

 Pearmain, Cox's Orange Pippin, Peasgood's Nonsuch 

 and Allington Pippin. The demand for trees now runs 

 chiefly on those grown upon the Paradise stock. The 

 Canadian variety. Royal Snow, is cultivated but this 

 has not become very much in demand. The plums in 

 favor are Monarch, Czar, Victoria, Pond's Seedling, 

 Princess of Wales, and Rivers, whilst the pears comprise 

 Williams, Doyenne du Comice, Jargonelle, Marie Louise, 

 Beurre Diel, Beurre Superfine, Fertility, and Pitmaston 

 Duchesse. I inquired from Mr. Todman whether his 

 business suffered from foreign competition. He replied : 

 "The foreign nurserymen send their circulars all around 

 the fruit growing districts. Their stock is not so hardy 

 as the English. If we have a very mild winter it is all 

 right, but if the climate is severe the trees will not stand 

 our winter." I also learned that this has been one of the 

 best seasons for growth, and there was an absence of 

 blight and other diseases, the trees being in a very 

 healthy and vigorous condition. Each autumn there is 

 a thinning out process, when an auction sale takes place. 



what's in a NAME ? 



The choice of a suitable name for fruit or flowers is 

 often a difficult matter with the raisers, many of whom 

 ring the changes on the popular heroes of the hour, after 

 exhausting the list of classical notabilities. There is no 

 doubt that the selection of an apt title has an important 

 bearing in popularizing a new introduction, and the 

 terser the better. It is a pity that raisers and intro- 

 ducers do not stick to some short title, instead of puz- 

 zling purchasers with one which exhausts the alphabet 

 several times over. In a rose catalogue the following 

 names sufficient to "stagger humanity" appear: S. M. 

 de Rodocanachi, Souvenir de S. A. Prince, Grossherzog 

 von Oldenburg, Souvenir de Marie Zozaya and Mdme. B. 

 de Bary de Zahony. Life is too short for these tongue- 

 twisters. It is too much to inflict these lumbering 

 appelations on the public, and to further add to the diffi- 

 culties of our gardeners — good fellows in their way, but 

 very often, most ingenious in their distortions of names. 

 An amusing list could be compiled of the remarkable 

 changes some of the names of plants have undergone at 

 the hands of the gardeners of the old school who have 

 not the advantages now possessed by the younger gener- 

 ation in acquiring a knowledge of scientific horticulture. 

 The foreign nurserymen are the worst offenders in the 

 selection of these outlandish descriptions, but there is 

 no reason why their British collea.gues should follow 

 their bad example. 



>t>y. adi^. 



JjOndon, England, Nov. 10, '05. 



