478 



JOURNAL OF HOBTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GASDENEB. 



[ December 26, 1867. 



what were cheerless plots are now gardens filled in autumn with 

 blooming Chrysanthemums, and early in spring with Crocuses, 

 Tulips, Snowdrops, A-c. When the exhibition day comes 

 round — a sort of gala, which has nearly done away with the old 

 riotous feast, held earlier — friends meet, and are greeted with 

 " Come and look at my garden before we go to the show field, 

 for there is one consolation, if my Ganliflowers are not to be 

 first to-day, the best being too early, we have had the pleasure 

 of eating them, and I have learned to grow, and know the uses 

 of many things which were only in the gardens of the wealthy. 

 When we go in to dinner you will taste my Cucumbers, and the 

 Celery, which must take the first prize to-day. I can have a 

 bouquet, too, to please the wife and children." 



And here I may say is a decided improvement in taste since 

 the commencement of our Society, and the only drawback, if it 

 may be called such, to our pleasure, as we walk round the laden 

 tables in the spacious tent, is the sly query, " Will the Squire 

 find fault with his professional for not being able to produce 

 sueli vegetables ? " — Unit. 



MR. SALTER'S CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 



" Tod will be disappointed at Mr. Salter's," was said to me 

 two weeks ago by one who had been there, when the rain, 

 sleet, and snow were coming down, and making London aboirt 

 as miserable and filthy as I ever saw it look. It was enough 

 to damp one who did not feel in very ft ver heat that day. But 

 I did not like to forego my annual visit ; and so, having ac- 

 compliuhed the business which brought me to town, I started 

 off for Hammersmith. And right glad I was ; for, far from 

 being disappointed, I saw such a treat in Chrysanthemums as 

 I had not seen for some years. Let me not be mistaken. 

 There is no doubt that this is an especially bad season for this 

 flower ; no doubt, too, that owing to Mr. Salter having been 

 obliged to use fire heat the beauty of many of his flowers had 

 faded, and the winter garden as a whole was not nearly so 

 attractive as usual ; but the feature that gave me so niuch 

 pleasure, and which opened out to me vistas of still greater 

 enjoyment, was the large quantity of new Japanese Chrysan- 

 themums which iUr. Salter has succeeded in raising. But of 

 these more presently. 



The present is the most unfavourable season for Chrysan- 

 themums that we have had for many years ; indeed, Mr. Salter 

 says the most so that he ever remembers. They seemed, he 

 said, to do well until the month of September, but after that 

 they appear never to have moved at all. November, which 

 •with us at the seaside was a fine month, was in Hammersmith 

 a very dreary one — no sunlight ; dark, foggy days, and as a 

 oonaequence the Chrysanthemums would not open ; and the 

 application of fire heat to malie up the deficiency of sunlight 

 has, as I have said, not improved them. Still there were some 

 very fine flowers to be seen — some which will please the most 

 fastidious exhibitor, others which have the charm of novelty, 

 and others which will make pretty decorative plants. There 

 were also some of last year's flowers which were unmistake- 

 ably good. Of these I would mention Cadic's Perfection, a 

 bright red, with orange back to the " petals " (as one must 

 call them, though properly florets), a fine incurved flower ; 

 Dr. Lindley, dark orange with amber centre, a broad-petalled, 

 incurved flower ; Fingal, a rosy lilac, very broad petals; Lady 

 Talfourd, quite a gem, rosy lilac with silvery back, not very 

 large, but one of the neatest and prettiest flowers ever raised ; 

 Mrs. Heale, a fine white sport of Princess of Wales ; Ossian, 

 large, rose, incurved flower, very double ; Prospero, dark purple ; 

 andPurpureum elegans, quite a novelty in colour, rich purplish 

 violet. Among Pompons Madge Wildfire, bright red with large 

 golden tips, very novel and pretty ; St. Jlichael, a dwarf 

 Jardin des Plantes ; Little Kate, blush with crimson centre ; and 

 The Countess, blush lilac, very neat, are excellent additions to 

 our lists. 



Of the flowers of the present season to be sent out in the 

 spring. Lord Derby, a fine dark purple, is the premier flower, 

 and will be eagerly sought after by exhibitors, as it incurves 

 completely, and needs no dressing. Princess Beatrice is a Cue 

 flower raised by Mr. Wyness, gardener at Buckingham Palace, 

 a sUvery lilac of fine quality, beautifully incurved ; Guernsey 

 Nugget, fine golden yellow, of large size ; Princess of Teck, 

 fine large white ; Miss Mauchaux, pure white, with broad petals ; 

 Lilac Beverley, a sport from that fine flower Beverley, and 

 equa,lling it in form ; Golden Orb, a large rich yeUow flower, of 

 hrilliant colour ; Enamel, pure enamelled white, a fine show 



flower. There were two very distinct flowers — Captivation, a 

 reflexed flower, carmine with white centre ; and Mrs. Huffing- 

 tou, the most distinct flower of the season. Of all Chrysan- 

 themums Aimee Feriere is, or was until now, the most distinct 

 and beautiful. And yet how seldom one sees it ! Its delicate 

 pure white, and beautiful carmine tips, always make it very 

 attractive ; and I often wondered how it was that we never 

 saw a move in that direction. At last we have it. This beau- 

 tiful flower which Mr. Salter had called Bival Aim^e Feriere, 

 but which he kindly allowed me to change to the name it at 

 present bears, is like the older flower, more compact, however, 

 in shape, and with much darker tips to the petals ; and I feel 

 sure it will be a favourite flower with all who value delicacy 

 and distinctness. 



And now the Japanese Chrysanthemums claim our attention, 

 as I believe they are likely to do for some years to come ; for 

 the results now obtained are, I verily believe, only the first 

 fruits of a rich harvest. When, some years ago, Mr. Fortune 

 introduced seven varieties from Japan, and filr. Standish exhi- 

 bited them at one of the Horticultural Society's meetings, there 

 was a great diversity of opinion as to their value. Many ridi- 

 culed the idea of such "Bagged Jacks" being of any use ; 

 while others, myself among the number, believed that they 

 would be found ultimately to be of great use. The Jersey and 

 Guernsey men, who have originated so many varieties of the 

 true florists' kinds, would have nothing to say to them ; they 

 were as great an abomination in their eyes as an Alpine Au- 

 ricula to my friend Mr. Lightbody, or a hybrid Orchid to a 

 botanist. Mr. Salter thought better of them, and he has been 

 successful in crossing them with the Chinese Chrysanthemums, 

 and producing a most curious race. 



Some of them are like those " penny spiders " which you 

 see the men dangling up and down on a piece of elastic in the 

 streets ; others are more like the paper cuttings which ladies 

 are such adepts in making, and hang about in most curioua- 

 looking tufts ; others have long pointed filaments ; others are 

 spotted in their petals like some of the Odonloglossums ; and 

 all are curious. Moreover, they are later than their Chinese 

 cousins, and hence they will most probably supply a gap, which 

 nothing else has yet filled up, between the Chrysanthemums 

 and the early spring flowers, such as Cinerarias, &c. ; I mean, 

 of course, with those who have not the appliances of forcing. 



One of the most curious is that to which I have alluded 

 above — Tarantula. It has a thick button-like centre, and long 

 narrow petals spreading out iu a single ray only, giving it a 

 most weird appearance. Next there is Wizard, a maroon- 

 coloured flower, in which the petals hang about in a most 

 curious manner, forming elegant-looking tufts. Then there are 

 Bed Drsgon, brown, with yellow tips to its long thread-like 

 petals (I prefer using this to the more correct term florets) ; 

 Comet, yellow and orange ; Eobert Fortune, orange and brown, 

 large, and very striking ; Sulphureum, large, white, sulphur 

 centre ; Aureliau, very large yellow ; Leopard, Indian red 

 spotted with yellow, almost like some of the Orchids ; Purpu- 

 reum punctatum, purple aud white spots ; Nagasaki Violet, 

 clear rosy violet, spotted with white ; Aurantium, a large and 

 showy yellow flower. There are other varieties which are yet 

 to bloom ; but from what I have said it will be seen that there 

 is already a very large variety, and these are, I think, but the 

 precursors of others. I believe that other growers are working 

 in the same strain, so that we may look forward to probably as 

 interesting results as when Mr. Fortune introduced the littl» 

 Pompon Chrysanthemum so many years ago. — D., Deal. 



GROWING MADDER IN ASSAM. 



A FKiEND of mine has just returned from Assam (India), and 

 brought with him roots of a plant growing there in wild luxu- 

 riance, from which the natives extract a beautiful dye. These 

 roots being sent for test to a large cotton dyeing firm iu Man- 

 chester, they state the colour to be excellent, but the quantity 

 of colouring matter too small to pay for importing the roots 

 from India, as a substitute for Madder, of which this one firm 

 consumes annually some £30,000 worth. 



Is this plant (of which I enclose leaves) a species of Madder ? 

 if so, I should suppose that the true Madder, if transplanted 

 to Assam, would flourish well, and under the influence of 

 that hot, humid climate, would be matured in a much shorter 

 time than in the south of Europe. 



The friend I allude to, is about visiting the tea planters in 

 that country again, and if there is a probability of success in. 



