i8g6. 



GARDENING. 



43 



every one of its four editions as it ap-l 

 peared, and now conies a fifth edition' 

 that completely eclipses its predecessors 

 The book is 9 by G inches and contains 

 900 pages, and it is illustrated more lav 

 ishly, pointedly and beautifully than any 

 other horticultural book. Its author is 

 Mr. William Robinson of London, the 

 editor of The Garden and Gardening 

 Illustrated, and the author of several 

 other books as Hardy Flowers, The 

 Wild Garden and Alpine Flowers. 

 Mr. Robinson is a keen, vigorous writer, 

 and a trained, practical, professional gar- 

 dener; he loves flowers, knows them, 

 grows them, aud uses hem in a natural 

 and artistically beautiful way. As a 

 landscape gardener he ranks preeminent; 

 in fine the name of William Robinson 

 stands for everything that is nobly and 

 artistically beautiful in gardening, and 

 that is unalterably opposed to humbug 

 and formality. A text book from such 

 an author is a treasure indeed. And this 

 new edition is a completely revised, newly 

 arranged and freshly written work, and 

 it contains a vast amount of new and im- 

 portant information. Oneof the specially 

 valuable additions is the introduction of 

 shrubbery roses, etc., into the body of 

 the work in alphabetical order with the 

 other flowers. You know in very few of 

 our horticultural books have we any full 

 reliable information about ornamental 

 shrubbery, then what a pleasure it is to 

 turn to this magnificent work and in it 

 find the truth in its fulness and purity by 

 a man who knows what he is talking 

 about. In conclusion we advise every 

 reader of Gardening to get .this book; as 

 the Bible is the rule and guide of your life 

 so shall the English flower garden be of 

 the outdoor decoration of your homes. 



The Pigmy Victoria Regia. — I note in 

 Gardening that you have been attracted 

 by the quaint appearance of the Victoria 

 sent by me to Mr. Pettigrew. It is a 

 very novel and interesting plant and en- 

 tir. ly distinct from the other Victoria. 

 That peculiar flower bud with the smooth 

 sepals is an advantage as it affords us 

 one means of taking hold of some part 

 that is not spiny, the seed, too, is round 

 but one of its main features is its freedom 

 of flowering and at a very early stage or 

 when at a size I've never known an ordi- 

 nary Victoria blossom, another is that 

 the leaves turn up at a very early stage 

 when not more than 10 or 12 inches 

 diameter. Two weeks ago I had a plant 

 in a 10-inch seed pan produce a perfect 

 flower, and the same plant has other 

 buds which will doubtless develop later. 

 I may also say that the same plant (or 

 variety ) will produce average size leaves, 

 say 5 to 6 feet in diameter, and I have 

 had as many as twenty leaves on one 

 plant at one time. Wji. Tricker. 



Riverton, N. J., Oct. 13, '96. 



Chrysanthemums. 



CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 



Now that nearly all the disbudding is 

 done, you should not think that your 

 labor is over, for you must now be con- 

 tinually on the watch, as we get so much 

 dull weather; if the plants get too wet 

 they will get that much dreaded disease 

 called "the rust." After this date it is 

 always best to keep the plants a little on 

 the dry side, although they should never 

 be allowed to get dry enough to flag or 

 droop. 



See that no stagnant water is allowed 

 to remain on the walks, and il these are 



V 



in a wet condition, sprinkle a covering of 

 ashes or gravel on them.it will keep them 

 ^nice and pleasant looking and you can 

 admire the different varieties as they come 

 into bloom with comfort; besidesthe drv- 

 ' ness preventing mildew, which is often 

 caused by stagnant water about the 

 house. Since the latest introductions of 

 early and very late varieties the chrysan- 

 themum season has been much more ex- 

 tended than it was in former years. At 

 the date of writing I have already sent to 

 the New York niarketblossomsofMadam, 

 Bergmann, white; Marquis deMontmort, 

 pink; Marie Masse, Glory of Pacific, J. E. 

 Lager, Marion Henderson, yellow; and 

 Merry Monarch, white. By this you can 

 see there is quite a collection ol early rari- 

 ties to keep one interested. 



I expect lots of v-ou will be looking for- 

 ward to the exhibitions to be held next 

 month, and will be sometimes troubled to 

 know the best way to keep any forward 

 blooms back -till show time. Those 

 grown in pots should be moved to a cool 

 dry position in the house and moisture 

 withheld from the foliage as much as pos- 

 sible. In the case of cut blooms, you can 

 keep many of them that are at their best 

 by putting them in a cool cellar, giving 

 them fresh water every 24 hours, and 

 cutting a short piece of the stem off of it 

 every second day. Under this treatment 

 blooms will improve in size and color. If 

 you should have any of the late varieties, 

 such as W. H. Lincoln, yellow; H W. 

 Rieman, golden yellow; Esther Cleveland, 

 rose pink; Maud Dean, rose pink; Mrs. 

 Jerome Jones, white; and Flora Hill, 

 white, keep them in the coolest end of 

 the house and you will be able to have 

 'mums on your table at Christmas. 



The following are the best midseason 

 varieties: 



Yellow.— H. L. Sunderbruch, Georgi- 

 enne Bramhall, Golden Wedding, Miss 

 Georgiana Pitcher, Eugene Dailledouze, 

 Radiance, Minerva, Yellow Queen, Major 

 Bonnaffon, and H. E. Widener. 



White.— Mavfiower, Mutual Friend, 

 The Queen Mrs. H. McK. Twombly, 

 Niveus, W. G. Newitt, Mrs. H. Robinson, 

 Ivory, Mrs. J. H. Starin, Minnie Wana- 

 maker. 



Pink.— Helen Bloodgood, Mrs. How- 

 ard Rinek, Mrs. Geo. A. Magee, Pres. W. 

 R. Smith, Viviand-Morel. Mrs. James 

 Eadie, Eda Prass, Dorothy Toler, Lady 

 Playfair. 



Hairy.— Mrs. W. J. Godfrey, Mrs. A. 

 Hardy, R. M. Grey, Katharine Gordon. 



Odd Varieties".— Pitcher & Manda, 

 white, yellow center; Andes, terra cotta 

 shaded with gold. 



Crimson.— G. W. Childs, John Shrimp- 

 ton. A. D. Rose. 



Jersey City, N. J., October 10, '96. 



NEWER CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 



As I write, it is "just before the ball"; 

 we walk through the greenhouses every 

 day and note with pleasure the thick 

 heavy stems rising from the benches, and 

 the closely set foliage crowned by huge 

 buds which promise much for blooming 

 time. 



Our earliest variety this year is Lady 

 Fitzwigram, we cut the first blooms of it 

 on Sept. 17; it will last till Mme. Berg- 

 mann is ready. Lady Fitzwigram we . on- 

 s der one of the most valuable of the 

 newer varieties, its color is pure white, 

 and its blossom is a little larger than 

 Bergmann and of most beautiful semi- 

 globular, incurved form when finished, in- 

 deed it is very beautiful before it is fully 

 developed. Grown in bush form it is as 

 full and free as a pompon variety. 



Mrs. M. R. Parker ('95) is a very 



beautiful early pink, but it has been 

 dropped by commercial growers on ac- 

 count of its flowers falling to pieces so 

 quicklv, this is a pity because it seemed 

 perfect in all other points, such as earli- 

 ness, color, dwarf habit, fine form, and 

 size, but dropping the petals is a fata! 

 fault. 



Edith Smith ('9.5) is a most beautiful 

 introdue ion. being like an enormous 

 peari white Viviand-Morel; the glimpse 

 we had of it last year 1 ads us to expect 

 great things from it this year, and its fine 

 growth at the present time warrants the 

 expectation. 



Eva Knowles ('95) is a gorgeous Eng- 

 lish cousin in red and bronze of enormous 

 size and perfect form; it will probablv be 

 seen at many of the shows this fall. 



Mrs. S. T. Mirdock ('95) promises to 

 take rank very close to Mr. Dorner's 

 other grand variety, Major Bonnaffon; it 

 is a beautiful shade of pink; it is a fine 

 dwarf grower with elegant foliage and 

 looks as if built for business. 



Philadelphia ('95) when well done is 

 one of the most beautiful of all the prim- 

 rose white sorts, but evidently requires 

 careful culture, and is generally conceded 

 as being primarily an exhibition variety. 



Mrs. Henry Robinson ('95) is the most 

 perfect early white chrysanthemum ex- 

 tant; its season is Oct. 15 to Nov. 5, and 

 it is easy to manage, being a free grower 

 with good foliage and a strong stem. 

 The flower when finished is globular and 

 incurved, and formed of broad grooved 

 petals; it compels the admiration of every 

 beholder, yet strange to say, our English 

 friends have given it up and pronounced 

 it a failure. 



Miss M. M. Johnson ('95) is an extra 

 early large yellow, a dwarf grower, with 

 large incurving golden blooms; it follows 

 that other fine yellow, Marion Hender- 

 son, by a few days. 



H. W. Rieman ('95) is a very large 

 golden globe, massive and compact, with 

 dwarf stems stiff and beautifully clothed; 

 can be had very late in November and for 

 this purpose is the most promising yellow 

 to date, being of freer growth and more 

 easily managed than Dr. Covert or Chal- 

 lenge. 



Marquis de Montmort is the earliest 

 of the large flowering pink varieties and 

 is being largely tried this autumn; our 

 first blooms were finished Oct. 5, and here 

 in Indiana our chrysanthemum season 

 this year is a week late; the color is not 

 specially pleasing being more violet than 

 pink. It is a tall grower. 



Last season our national chryanthe- 

 mum society awarded certificates to thir- 

 ty-two varieties, I believe, and nearly all 

 of these were distributed last March; this 

 autumn they are on trial again before a 

 still more exacting tribunal, the commer- 

 cial growers and the exhibitors at the 

 shows; this is a tribunal which does not 

 express its criticisms in smooth phrases 

 nor in doubtful language. In the mean- 

 time the plants are looking fine and if 

 thick stems and good growth count for 

 anything, we shall see most of the novel- 

 ties of the year in fine condition. 



S. A. Hill. 

 . Richmond, Ind., Oct. 9. 1896. 



CHRYSANTHEMUMS FOR AMATEURS. 



At this season every lover of flowers is 

 particularly interested in the Queen of 

 Autumn. Her easy culture, large hand- 

 some flowers, and diversity of color at 

 once commends her to every one, and 

 how can we get such beautiful flowers or 

 nice plants is a question that interests us 

 all. 



