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JOUBNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ December 7, 1871. 



Perfection de Lyon 

 Aiina de Diesbacli 

 Baronne A. de Rothscliild 

 Reine dn Midi 

 Sophie Coqnerelle 

 Madame Boll 

 President Willermoz 

 Hippolyte Flandrin 

 Olivier Delhomme 



— C. P. Peach. 



Madame Trifle 

 Ltelia 



Charles Eonillard 

 Madame Derronx Douville 

 Madame Jacqnier 

 Thomas Methven 

 Madame Bravy 

 Baronne Gonella 

 Francois Lou vat 



CHRYSANTHEMUM CULTURE. 



Those who are fortunate enough to possess a large glass 

 house, which they can devote exclusively to the culture of the 

 Chrysanthemum, will now, if they have properly managed 

 their plants, have such a display of floral beauty as cannot be 

 obtained from any other class of plants in the dreary month of 

 November. In the neighbourhood of London, especially in the 

 north and east, much encouragement is given to the Chrysan- 

 themum. Societies have been formed, and the exhibitions are 

 invariably held about the middle of November, as in ordinary 

 seasons the flower is in full beauty at that time. This being a 

 late season, however, forcing had to be resorted to in order to 

 bring the blooms forward enough, which is unfortunate, as it 

 spoils the character of the flower. 



The head-quarters of the Chrysanthemum is Stoke Newing- 

 ton, and there is the oldest, and, perhaps, most flourishing of 

 the societies. At its Exhibition prizes are offered for plants or 

 flowers in all the classes except the Japanese. This class does 

 not yet rise in popular estimation, and has no place with those 

 who cannot look kindly on anything except what is called in 

 garden language a florist's flower. For my part I confess to a 

 great liking for the Japanese varieties. The colours are more 

 brilliant and decided, and the peculiar shape and arrangement 

 of the florets have a very distinct and quaint effect. A few 

 stands of cut blooms, or collections of pot plants, would be 

 admired by all, and be an object of wonder to some, if they 

 were allowed a place on the exhibition-table. Another advan- 

 tage attending this class is that the flowers do not require 

 "dressing," whereas, before a stand of twenty-four incurved 

 blooms can be placed on the exhibition-table, tbey must be 

 subjected to many hours of tedious manipulation. This dress- 

 ing is sometimes carried to excess, as witness the stands exhi- 

 bited at South Kensington on November Ist. It was apparent 

 to an ordinary observer that the centres of the flowers had been 

 torn bodily out, and enough florets did not remain to hide the 

 disfigurement. 



Dressing cut blooms of Chrysanthemums is necessary to a 

 certain extent, and winked at by all the societies, but it should 

 not go further than removing a badly-formed floret or a few 

 stamens which prevent the centre of the flower from closing 

 over. If this is all that is done to the flowers, the most 

 practised cannot say for certain that the flower has been 

 dressed ; but where the dressing is apparent to the ordinary 

 looker-on it ought not to be allowed. Some varieties incurve 

 naturally, and require no dressing, whilst others, which are to 

 be seen in all the best stands, must be dressed. This delicate 

 -operation is performed by a pair of tweezers specially designed 

 for the purpose. 



There is also at the exhibitions a class provided for Anemone- 

 flowered varieties, which are shown in single blooms, and the 

 Anemone Pompons in trebles, and to these ought now to be 

 added a class for Japanese, either as cut blooms or specimen 

 plants in pots, or both. A few notes on the culture of Chry- 

 santhemums may be useful to some of your readers — to a large 

 class, perhaps — for there are very few who do not grow the 

 Chrysanthemum, though it very seldom receives the attention 

 to which its high value as a decorative plant entitles it. Those 

 who have only limited means, and do not intend to grow for 

 exhibition, should have a few of the best and most approved 

 sorts only. Exhibitors will require to grow a large number of 

 varieties, in order to be able to out twenty-four distinct ones 

 on a given day. 



A noticeable fact with regard to this flower is that a variety 

 may be worthless one season and of the best quality the next. 

 One of our most successful exhibitors recently told me that he 

 thought of discarding that magniflcent variety Princess Teck, 

 since with him it is worthless as an exhibition flower, whilst 

 with me it has never failed to be first-class ; and other flowers 

 which I have seen very fine at exhibitions are invariably coarse 

 with me. Any flower that has a tendency to coarseness should 



not be grown in such a rich compost as the finer flowers, and 

 but little manure water should be given it. 



If it is intended to grow specimen plants for exhibition, the 

 cuttings should be inserted in November — one cutting in the 

 centre of a 3 inch pot, in the case both of the large-flowered 

 and Anemone sections. The pots should then be placed in a 

 close pit near the glass for two or three weeks until the plants 

 are established. If a very gentle bottom heat can be main- 

 tained the cuttings will strike out roots sooner, and when 

 rooted they ought to have an ample supply of air on all favour- 

 able occasions. Should the plants be intended for cut blooms 

 or small specimen plants only, February and March are the 

 best months to propagate them in. If the cutting-pots are 

 placed in a gentle hotbed they will form roots at once, and the 

 lengthening days and increasing heat will tend to the formation 

 of fine stocky plants, which will not require the same care as 

 those struck before Christmas. When the cutting-pots are 

 filled with roots the plants should be shifted into 6-inch pots, 

 and again when well established change into 8i-inoh pots, 

 which are large enough for the Pompon section to flower in. 

 The large-flowered varieties should be again shifted into 11-inch 

 pots. 



Those plants required for cut blooms should be grown from ■ 

 the first for this purpose. They should not be pinched at all, 

 and each plant should be grown with a single shoot, and allowed 

 to produce but very few flowers — from three to six on each 

 plant — three plants being potted in an 11-inch pot, so that 

 each potful may produce from nine to eighteen flowers. The 

 Anemone-flowered varieties and the Japanese, when grown for 

 the quality of their blooms alone, should be treated in the 

 same manner as the large-flowered section, as ought the Ane- 

 mone Pompons, except that Sj-inch pots will be sufficiently 

 large to flower these last in. The compost in which I have 

 found them succeed best is three parts turfy loam, one of 

 rotted manure, and some pounded oyster shells, a 10-inch pot- 

 ful being added to each barrowload of the compost. 



The plants will require the protection of cold frames or an 

 airy pit until the end of April, and the lights ought to be 

 entirely removed in fine weather, as the plants under glass are 

 apt to become drawn. About the end of April they may stand 

 out of doors in an airy position on a hard worm-proof bottom 

 of ashes or some similar material. They ought to be carefully 

 watered until the pots are well filled with roots, when abun- 

 dant supplies ought to be given to them. The summer treat- 

 ment consists in careful and unremitting attention to watering, 

 and syringing or watering overhead in dry hot weather. The 

 shoots should be pinched until the middle of June, and trained 

 to sticks as they require it. 



The training is a matter of taste ; some prefer a pyramid 

 form for Pompons, others train the shoots down until the 

 plants present a flat upper surface slightly rounded towards 

 the centre. This section may be trained into very pretty 

 standards, with clean stems of 2i to 3 feet high. The large- 

 flowered varieties are generally trained in the form of dwarf 

 bushes, each flower being supported by a neat stick painted 

 green. I have also recently seen very handsome natural-look- 

 ing specimens formed by training the plants to a centre shoot, 

 and not stopping this or any of the side shoots. They then 

 have the appearance of inverted pyramids, and make excellent 

 back-ground plants. 



A list of the best sorts to grow is desirable, and for this we 

 must go back to those sent out before the establishment of the 

 Messrs. Salter, at Hammersmith, was broken up. If there 

 have been any good varieties sent out since then, I have not 

 seen them except on pictures. I am alluding now to the large- 

 flowered, incurved section. We must fall back on our friend, 

 " D., Deal's," experience. Has he seen anything good during 

 the last two seasons ? There have been some good additions 

 to the Japanese class. Magnum Bonum and Jane Salter are 

 distinct and very good varieties ; the latter, I think, the most 

 pleasing flower yet raised in its class. 



In adding a list of varieties I will place them in classes, and 

 name only those flowers which I have grown and proved to be 

 good. 



Large-flowered for Cut Blooms. — Antonelli, Anrea mnltiflora, 

 Bella Donna, Beethoven, Beverley, Blonde Beauty, Bronze 

 Jardin des Plantes, Cassandra, Cherub, Donald Beaton, Duchess 

 of Wellington, Eve, Empress of India, General Bainbrigge, 

 Lady Slade, Golden Beverley, Guernsey Nugget, Her Mujesty, 

 Isabella Bott, Jardin des Plantes, John Salter, Lady Harding, 

 Lady Talfourd, Le Grand, Lord Derby, Mr. Gladstone, Mrs. 

 Cunningham, Mrs. G. Bundle, Mrs. Sharpe, Novelty, Pink 



