October 20, 1906 



HORTICULTURE 



416 



Commercial Chrysanthemum Culture in England 



Early lluwering ehrysanthciuiuiis have now loug 

 since passed the stage when they were grown by a few 

 enthusiastic amateurs in London suburban gardens. 

 A few admirers of this typo began to agitate some 

 years ago for something like ollicial recognition of their 

 "favorites, and as a result the early flowering chrysan- 

 themum occupies a place today in English horticulture 

 that must have surj>!isscd the most sanguine expecta- 

 tions of the greatest dreamer. 



Exhibitions of early varieties were organized by the 

 National Chrysanthemum Society some years ago and 

 since then there has been a steady increase in the popu- 

 larity of the flower. Last year a conference was held 

 sj:>ecially devoted to these varieties and there is but 

 little doubt that the way in which the amateurs have 

 pushed the merits of early varieties to the front has 

 brought about an unlooked-for appreciation of them by 

 the general pul)lic. 



Most of the chrysanth.emuni specialists in this coun- 

 try have more or less a department in which attention 

 is paid to the earlies, but as their business is chiefly 

 confined to the sale of plants and cuttings for growers 

 it has been reserved for some of the marketmen fo un- 

 dertake the cultivation of early chrysanthemums for 

 the blooms only. 



In the streets of Lumldii at this season of the year 

 the florists' .shops and the street hawkers of flowers are 

 everywhere to be seen well supplied witli bunches of 

 early chrysanthemums. The colors are perhaps fewer 

 than those of the later sorts used by the exhibitors at 

 the shows. The blooms of course are far inferior in 

 size, but are none the less useful for home decoration. 

 To gain some idea of the importance to which tlie 

 commercial culture of the early chrysanthemum has at- 

 tained 1 have just visited one of the largest market 

 growers in the neighborhood of the great metropolis. 

 Messrs. Cragg, Harrison and Cragg of Heston have 

 about 40 acres under cultivation for market purposes 

 generally, and of this from ten to twelve acres are de- 

 voted to the culture of chrysanthemums. 



Mr. Percy A. Cragg very kindly conducted me over 

 his firm's establishment, and as I had the pleasure of 

 spending a few days witii him at the Paris chrysan- 

 themum show last November T was more than ordi- 

 narily interested in his collection, remembering that he 

 had between five and six hundred novelties under trial, 

 many of which he had specially imported from conti- 

 nental growers. Of these M. Aug. Xonin undoubtedly 

 ranks first from the early growers' point of view. 



Out of a number like this tliere will of course be a 

 rigid selection, for it is of no use growing fancy sorts 

 that will not sell in the o])en market and fetch a price 

 commensurate with the time, trouble and expense 

 laid out upon them. Hitherto |he average number of 

 varieties suitable for market range between 160 and 

 180. The first batches of these are grown in great 

 numbers in the open ground, where they are flowered 

 and cut as required. A light wooden frame-work is 

 erected over the rows, and danger from early frosts is 

 averted by a covering of oiled calico which can be 

 drawn over the horizontal supports towards evening. 

 Other plants are grown in the open and then are lifted 

 towards the end of September and replanted in glass 

 structures 200 feet long by 40 feet wide, a slight shad- 

 ing being necessary until they recover from the shift. 

 For later purposes plants are grown outdoors all the 

 summer in 11 inch ]X)ts and housed in the usual way; 

 these give a supply of cut blooms long after the real 

 earlies are done with. 



Oui- tirsi visit Mils to the packing shed. Ucrc we saw 

 men and boys busily employed at a bench making and 

 trimming up the buuclies of cut blooms for market, the 

 vans leaving over night so as to reacli Covcnt Garden 

 Flower Market in early morning. Huge tubs contain 

 large numbers of blooms cut with steins about 2 feet 

 long from wiiich the men select the varieties required. 

 We notice one of Crimson Pride, a fair sized Japanese 

 of good form that is of a deep rich crimson color. 

 Several otiiers contain Nellie Blake, a rosy salmon with 

 a golden centre, also a Japanese of good size and a very 

 attractive flower. Mine. C. Desgranges and its golden 

 sport Gustave Wermig are abundantly in evidence, 

 (^ueen of the Ivirlies and its golden sport are big solid 

 blooms reminding of the November show varieties. 



We now pass into the nursery ground and find our- 

 .selves face to face with a vast area of chrysanthemums 

 in full bloom. Of these there are 5,000 plants of Mine. 

 Desgranges and ."i.OOO of Gustave Wermig. Money- 

 maker is also in large quantities and is a big Japanese 

 incurved with broad florets, color white slightly tinted, 

 and for market purposes has the advantage of stand- 

 ing well above the foliage on long .stems. La Triom- 

 phante, an old pink, Market Gold, a crim,son with gold 

 reverse and very broad florets; Sunshine, deep golden 

 yellow of which there are 5,000 plants; Nellie Blake 

 and Nina Blick. a reddish chestnut, a very promising 

 variety that is to be grown in greater quantity next 

 year are all noteworthy examples of marketable sorts. 

 Among odds and ends on trial we observe not a few 

 that look like promising sorts. 3hne. Guindudcau. 

 pale lilac mauve; Holmes White, PoUie E. Balbet, 

 Orange Pet. Etoile Blanche, Orange Masse, Goacher's 

 Pink. Bolide Arlesienire, and many others may be well 

 enough for the amateur's garden but as market varie- 

 ties their merits have yet to be proved. 



We now approach a sight unique perhaps on this side 

 of the Atlantic and our courteous guide smiles quietly 

 as we express surprise. Eight and left of us almost as 

 far as the eye can reach on a dead level are big plants 

 in 11-inch pots clothed with leathery massive foliage 

 and buds all taken. Here stand 70,000 every one of 

 which will be under glass in a fortnight's time. They 

 are mostly later sorts and consist of such as Tuxedo, 

 Nagoya Western King, W. H. Eieman, Souvenir de 

 Petit Ami, Lord Brooke, Major Bonaffon, Mine. P. 

 Padaelli, Ralph Hatton, etc. 



But we have not yet done with the outdoor earlies for 

 we are led a little further on and there are shown great 

 liatches, each variety by itself growing and blooming in 

 the open ground. We can only deal with these briefly 

 for space will not ]iermit of more. Charles Joly. a 

 rosy purple Jajianese is represented by a batch of 

 3.000 plants, M. Win. Holmes a thousand, Etoile d'Or, 

 a fine yellow, a batch of 2,000, Jliss B. Miller, a very 

 fine bloom, rich golden yellow, a batch of 4,000 

 Le Pactolc. a golde^j reddish chestnut Japanese 

 .3,000 plants. Other varieties grown in greater or 

 lesser numbers are Champ de Neige. Harvest Home, 

 Cranford White, Gertie, Etoile Blanche, Goacher's 

 Crimson, Habhie Burns, Pollie, Carrie, Crimson 

 ^Ia.¥se. Jllie. Marie Masse, Parisiana. Roi des Blanc, 

 Pyecroft Glory, Niveus, Phoebus. N, C. S. Jubilee, and 

 fiiiallv a broad expanse of the rich goHen yellow of 

 Horace ^Fartin of which there is about one acre. 



