JUNE 23, 1904. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



203 



had heard something about the quality 

 of the flowers raised in this section, 

 which is, I honestly believe, second to 

 none in the world. 



Two other pinks appear in the Wells- 

 Pockett set for this year, namely Leila 

 Filkins and F. A. Cobbold, but unfortun- 

 ately for them they are somewhat over- 

 shadowed by W. Duckham and probably 

 will not be so extensively grown on that 

 account, though either one in an ordi- 

 nary year would be largely advertised 

 and brougiht to the notice of the public. 

 It is worthy of note that these three 

 pinks produce just as good colored flow- 

 ers from a crown bud as from a later 

 one, which used not to be the case with 

 pink varieties, so many of the older 

 varieties nseding to be taken on a later 

 bud to get the best color. 



In the crimson section great advances 

 have been made in giving us varieties 

 that will not burn up in the sun. This 

 class has been very unsatisfactory for 

 years on that account, as no grower 

 was willing to spend time and money 

 growing crimsons and not be able to get 

 a satisfactory flower. H. J. Jonea was 

 the first red to give satisfaction in re- 

 gard to standing sunlight, and now we 

 have lots of them. 



Maynell and S. T. Wright are the 

 Wells' novelties, and very fine they arc. 

 Henry Barnes is darker, but one of the 

 most telling colors set up among whites 

 and yellows in the small-vase classes. 

 Maynell would be more to my liking 

 if it did not incurve so much, as this 

 incurving habit hides the wonderful 

 crimson coloring somewhat. In common 

 with both Henry Barnes and S. T. 

 Wright, it is recommended not to shade 

 Maynell. as the full sunlight tends to 

 make the petals reflex instead of in- 

 curve. This advice should, however, I 

 think, not be taken too literally, our 

 American climate being very different to 

 the English one. You will all remember 

 the spell of hot weather we had at the 

 end of October last year, when not only 

 reds, but all varieties, white and yellow 

 included, burned badly where not shaded. 



Mrs. F. W. Vallis, a variety raised, 

 I believe, by Silsbury in the Isle of 

 Wight, will be a grand addition to the 

 crimsons, if it lives up to its possibili- 

 ties. It is a Japanese and its long, 

 drooping petals as they unfold from day 

 to day show some exquisite coloring. 



In what may be termed the unclassi- 

 fied colors there are several varietic 

 that are very fine indeed. Miss Mildred 

 Ware is, perhaps, the largest. In size 

 and shape it may be compared to Mme. 

 Carnot, of which it is a seedling, and in 

 color much like Lady Anglesey. It ex- 

 hibits some tendency to leaf spot in the 

 small stages, but it is naturally a robust 

 variety and grows out of this as the 

 plant gathers strength. 



Mary Inglis is another variety that is 

 somewhat on the same color, shading off 

 a little to terra cotta. There is a great 

 demand for this variety, and this de- 

 mand cannot be supplied in full for 

 some years, for Inglis is the slowest 

 variety in producing stock that I ever 

 handled. It is a fine grower when 

 started, but it simply will not produce 

 suckers from the soil in the usual man- 

 ner. 



General Hutton is a variety that just 

 missed being a grand yellow by being 

 shaded somewhat with red. If we could 

 eliminate that red streak we would have 

 a peerless variety, for the yellow is 



A Field of Peonies of Gilbert H. "Wild, Sarcoxie, Mo. 



deeper than the yellow in the famous 

 old Golden Wedding and it is a grand 

 grower and keeper. As it is, it loses in 

 color if set in a class calling for yellows 

 when competing against clean self colors, 

 such as Col. Appleton or Mrs. Thirkell. 

 Two other varieties that show this yel- 

 low and red coimbination are Donald 

 McLeod and Harrison Dick, both ideal 

 growers and easy to handle. While they 

 cannot be set up in a class calling for 

 a yellow, they are very valuable in such 

 classes as the six sixes or in setting up 

 a collection. 



We have hitherto run altogether too 

 much to the three colors, white, yellow 

 and pink, in our exhibitions, and this 

 produced a sameness that became mo- 

 notonous, but now with classes that per- 

 mit of staging these novel colors the 

 general color scheme is diversified and 

 much more interesting, and the fickle 

 public, ever craving for something new, 

 finds lots to interest it. 



There is but one sport being distrib- 

 uted this year, namely, Cheltoni, the 

 yellow sport from Nellie Pockett. The 

 demand for this variety is far ahead of 

 the visible supply, Nellie Pockett being 

 so well known and liked. Next year 

 there may possibly be several sports in 

 the market, one a white sport from the 

 pink Mrs. Coombee, and a bronze sport 

 from that grand variety, Mrs. Thirkell. 



Wo are running shy on good exhibi- 

 tion whites at present, and no new one 

 is being distributed this year. Ben 

 Wells, while it may do for a white, has 

 a tinge of pink in it that detracts some- 

 what from its general appearance, al- 

 though Ben Wells is well worth growing 

 by everyone. We want a white with 

 tiie purity of the old Niveus, the size of 

 Mme. Carnot, or larger, and the consti- 

 tution of W. Duckham. A white com- 

 bining these qualities will have a phe- 

 nomenal sale. 



There is a new star rising on the 

 chrysanthemum horizon in the per8«n of 

 a certain French amateur, who, it is 

 claimed, has raised some grand new seed- 

 lings which will appear in due season. 

 I hope it may be true, though very 

 many of the French varieties, for some 

 reason or other, do not do well here. 



Out of the thousands of French vj.rie- 

 ties imported in recent years the old 

 Mme. Carnot is about the only one that 

 has stayed with us long enough to get 

 acquainted, and even Carnot has to bo 

 very carefully handled to keep it in 

 good health. 



The chrysanthemum to-day may be 

 said to be once more on the top of the 

 vfavd of popularity the world over. The 

 bread and butter florist says there is 

 no money in growing them for market, 

 and certainly prices last fall were very 

 poor, but that depression spread through 

 every line of cut flowers, as well as the 

 mum, and the grower himself, I think, 

 lias been largely responsible for the de- 

 cline in prices by throwing on the mar- 

 ket a vast quantity of absolute rubbish, 

 which can hardly be sold at any price. 



But the number of exhibitions and ex- 

 hibitors is increasing by leaps and 

 bounds, and new varieties are eagerly 

 snapped up by these enthusiasts, who 

 guard their treasures as a miser guards 

 his gold. I have been accused of sleeping 

 in the mum house when the plants were 

 in flower, and while I deny that allega- 

 tion, and defy that allegator, I will say 

 this, that when a man gets a good attack 

 of chrysanthemumitis. be he rich or poor, 

 it will stay, with him till he passes to 

 the great beyond, recurring every fall 

 as regularly as the year rolls round. 



One runs across a man every once in 

 a while who will tell you that though 

 the varieties change there is no real 

 progress in the chrysanthemum. Such a 

 man does not follow the exhibitions or 

 he would know better. Think over for 

 yourself the exhibitions held by your 

 own society in the past five years and 

 see if we have not made progress, and 

 what is true here is true the world over. 

 Only a year or two ago the trade papers 

 were gravely discussing the question of 

 making classes separate for Timothy 

 Eaton and Colonel Appleton. T^st fail 

 many varieties were set up that easily 

 beat either of them in size and finish, 

 and in another year or so they will drop 

 peacefully out of sight, left behind and 

 forgotten, and we shall be worshiping 

 at the feet of some new idol that has 

 been born in some far away corner of 



