December 13, 190G. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



249 



A BRITISH GROWER'S VIEW. 



In the Special Autumn Number of the 

 Beview appear notes on varieties in 

 which C. H. Totty specially mentions 

 Mrs. Henry Barnes. Judging by the 

 blooms grown here it is difficult to under- 

 stand how flowers of this color can be 

 appreciated in the United States. Here 

 it is dull, although up to the English 

 standard in size. 



Mrs. A. T. Miller is certainly the best 

 white, either old or new, seen here this 

 season and it is remarkable that in both 

 your country and this it is classed as 

 "rather early." 



E. G. Hill says, on page 1713, that 

 most of the varieties which are a success 

 here are grown from the crown bud, 

 while the American grower depends on 

 the terminal. The English judges place 

 size first, but when they write of the 

 varieties they put color first. Hence ex- 

 hibitors go for size and the terminal bud 

 does not give it. 



We are following the American method 

 of exhibiting in vases and I trust ere 

 long we shall give more attention to 

 color. At present with us a variety may 

 have beautiful color and be good in form, 

 but unless it is large it stands no chance 

 to win. 



The form preferred by the American 

 grower is that which is known here as 

 an incurved Japanese, such as W. Duck- 

 ham and Mrs. Jerome Jones. Elowers 

 of this form certainly pack easily and 

 are -therefore best for the market trade 

 but we prefer, and I think rightly, too, a 

 shaggy Japanese; that is, a bloom with 

 long, drooping florets of medium width 

 which are the making of a deep solid 

 yet elegant flower. ' 



Single-flowered chrysanthemums are 

 now much in demand, but I do not think 

 they will ever become popular as market 

 flowers, much as they may be appreciated 

 by the private grower. It is quite as 

 costly to grow these properly as it is the 

 larger ordinary market flowers, but pur- 

 chasers expect a much larger bunch for 

 their money than is generally afforded by 

 the single-flowered chrysanthemums. 



Beturning to the novelties in Japanese 

 likely to suit the American trade, pre- 

 eminently as the best stands Mary juon- 

 nellan. It is of the richest golden yellow 

 and very brilliant, of the color of Butter- 

 cup, but superior; florets are wider and 

 the flower is much larger, bolder and 

 fuller than that variety. It is also right 

 in stem and foliage. I predict great 

 popularity for this among the American 

 growers for several years to come. 



Exmouth, England. 



W. J. Godfrey. 



STOCK PLANTS. 



I wish to raise 2,500 chrysanthemum 



plants. How many stock plants will I 



need? Please give me a list of best 



paying early and best paying late sorts. 



A. E. W. 



Figuring out a healthy plant to be 

 good for twenty cuttings, A. R. W. 

 would need 125 stock plants to furnish 

 him with what plants he needs. Some 

 will go above and some below, but the 

 average should work out as given. 



A list of the most largely grown 

 would be about as follows: Early, Polly 

 Bose, Alice Byron, C. Touset, white; 

 Monrovia, October Sunshine, yellow; 

 Montmort and Pacific, pinks. Late 

 kinds, Chadwick, Eaton, Mrs. Swin- 

 burne, white; Yellow Eaton, Yellow 

 Chadwick, Nagoya and Mrs. Geo. Beech, 

 yellow. Maud Dean is widely grown 



An Erica in the Indispensable Porto Rican Mat. 



yet for late pink, but it is very poor 



now. When some of the newer ones 



have proved their worth we may have 



something better. C. H. T. 



CHRYSANTHEMUM DAKOMA. 



In the Beview of November 20 we 

 notice a reference to Chrysanthemum Da- 

 koma. On the whole, the fluent pen of 

 the editor has so arranged this announce- 

 ment as/ to make good reading, and 

 doubtless it is good advertisement for 

 the variety. Yet the article is so con- 

 structed that it presents a tinge of dis- 

 appointment, or at least might be so in- 

 terpreted by those unfamiliar with the 

 fact. 



This is far from being our motive, for 

 we have learned in our twenty years' 

 experience with chrysanthemum shows to 

 abide by the judges' decision and look 

 happy. For want of time it is needless 

 to go into details regarding the excel- 

 lence of the committee's work. We cer- 

 tainly respect their judgment and are 

 satisfied in every particular. 



To our knowledge, there is no great 

 sin in offering a variety which has not 

 been approved by the committees. It 

 has been done before; for instance, we 



sent out Ethelyn in 1903, Uncle John 

 in 1904, and Tioga and Mayor Weaver 

 last spring, under these conditions. In 

 full justice to all concerned, it is only 

 fair to state the last two mentioned 

 were not submitted to the committees. 



Certificates awarded by the C. S. A. 

 have a tendency to increase the demand 

 for varieties so endorsed and thus are a 

 financial benefit to the recipient, but 

 they do not affect the quality of the 

 variety. There is no warranty, express 

 or implied, that insures the same high 

 standard when grown by others, or pre- 

 vents them from being brought to a 

 higher state of perfection. 



The reason for taking this course is 

 simply this, our present year's seedlings 

 have given a rather largo number to 

 grow on for next season, and as our 

 space is rather limited we had one of 

 two things to do: either dedicate what 

 we considered two good varieties (Da- 

 koma and lalene) to the dump, or dis- 

 seminate them. 



Our method of judging seedlings is, 

 comparing them with other good stand- 

 ard sorts, and believing there is a place 

 for both of these, have decided to send 

 them out on their merits as they appear 

 to us. Nathan Smith & Son. 



