vi THE CULTURE OF THE CHRYSANTHEMUM. 



varieties of chrysanthemums in America, and, of course, 

 it is unnecessary to tell English readers of their popularity 

 at home. In this connection it may be useful and in- 

 teresting to place on record some particulars as to the 

 raising of these specimens by Mr. T. W. Pockett in 

 Australia. 



Mr. Pockett left England for the Southern Continent in 

 1878. For some years before that date he had been em- 

 ployed as a lad in the gardens of Ireton House, Chelten- 

 ham, and the first well-grown chrysanthemums which he 

 saw were staged at the local shows. At that time 

 between 1871-3 the principal exhibits among the large 

 flowering varieties were the "Christines," in the medium- 

 sized Julia Lagravere, and among the pompoms Cedo Nulli 

 and its sports. He was entrusted wkh the duty of looking 

 after about four dozen different kinds, and this was con- 

 sidered a large collection in England in " the seventies." 



Within a couple of years of his arrival in Australia, Mr. 

 Pockett began to experiment with a few old varieties of 

 chrysanthemums, which he obtained from one of the 

 nurseries, but he made very little progress until he got 

 Golden Dragon, Grandiflorum, and, later on, E. Mody- 

 neux and Lady Lawrence. The last-named caused quite 

 a sensation as specimen plants, and also as cut flowers. 

 As the years went by Mr. Pockett turned his attention to 

 the production of new varieties, the sunny climate of 

 Australia being particularly favourable to raising novelties 

 from seeds. In a letter to me on the subject, written in 

 1909, he said, recounting his early efforts : 



.". A lot of time was taken up with raising seedlings from 

 that hirsute chrysanthemum, Mrs. Alpheus Hardy. The 

 result was chiefly bad constitutioned and invariably 

 smooth petallled varieties. Another set of experiments was 

 with perfumed sorts, which at first promised well; but 

 owing to the fact that any pleasing perfume was asso- 

 ciated every time with certain colours that were not likely 

 to be popular, and as there appeared to be great difficulty 

 in crossing and re-crossing so as to get pleasing per- 

 fumes in white, yellow, or crimson flowers, I was com- 



