474 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 510. 



many new varieties also, and some of them were voted the 

 highest honors. A list of the varieties which comprised 

 trie premier collection of forty-eight cut blooms of the Jap- 

 anese section comprises Madame Carnot, Etoile de Lyon, 

 Mrs. W. H. Lees, Monsieur de la Rocheterie, Baronne Ad. 

 de Rothschild, J. Brooks, Mrs. C. H. Payne, Viviand Morel, 

 Monsieur Panckoucke, Eva Knowles, Pride of Exmouth, 

 A. H. Wood, Lady Hanham, Simplicity, Australie, Yellow 

 Madame Carnot, Phoebus, Mrs. Dewar, Julie Scaramanza, 

 Mutual Friend, Mrs. G. Carpenter, Monsieur Hoste, Charles 

 Davis. Mrs. Charles Blick, Monsieur Chenon de Lech6, 

 Australian Gold, E. Molyneux, Mrs. J. Lewis, Monsieur 

 Gruyer, Edith Tabor, Monsieur Hoste, Lady Ridgway, 

 Mrs. Weeks, Monsieur Ch. Molin, Colonel Chase, Sunstone, 

 Mademoiselle M. A. de Galbert, Modesto, Madame M. 

 Ricoud, Baron Tait, Niveus, Mrs. Briscoe-Ironside, Madame 

 Gustave Henry, N. C. S. Jubilee, Miss Elsie Teichmann, 

 Robert Powell, Robert Owen and Viscountess Hamble- 

 don. This collection was shown by Mr. W. Mease, gar- 

 dener to A. Tate, Esq., Leatherhead, one of the most 

 successful growers and exhibitors of Chrysanthemums. 

 The prize for six blooms of a white Japanese variety was 

 awarded to magnificent flowers of Madame Carnot ; Mrs. 

 C. Blick being second and Madame Carnot again third. 

 The yellow sport of Madame Carnot, called J. G. W T arren, 

 was awarded the medal for the best flower of a Japanese 

 variety in the whole exhibition. In the class for six flowers 

 of a Japanese-colored variety, Phcebus (yellow) was an 

 easy first, Edith Tabor (yellow) being second and E. Moly- 

 neux (crimson and gold) third. Other Japanese varieties 

 which were of marked excellence were Western King 

 (white), Hairy Wonder, Elsie Teichmann and Australian 

 Gold. The feature of the whole exhibition, however, was 

 Madame Carnot, which was prominent in every collection, 

 and also figured largely in the groups, fifty magnificent 

 blooms of it being conspicuous in a most artistically ar- 

 ranged group of cut flowers in vases shown by Mr. Norman 

 Davis. 



The Incurved section, although eclipsed by its larger- 

 flowered, less formal sister, was represented by some beau- 

 tiful flowers. The magnificent yellow, Charles H. Curtis, 

 was by far the best of the varieties shown, while the white 

 Madame Ferlat, the purple Miss Dorothy Foster and the 

 blush-white Lady Isobel were worthy companions. The 

 premier collection of thirty-six blooms was shown by Mr. 

 Mease and comprised the following : Duchess of Fife, 

 Violet Foster, J. Agate, Dorothy Foster, Major Bonnaffpn, 

 Mrs. R. C. Kingston, William Tunnington, Lord Alcester, 

 Lady Isobel, Robert Petfield, Charles H. Curtis, Ma Perfec- 

 tion, John Doughty, Empress of India, Lucy Kendall, 

 M. P. Martignac, Queen of England, Violet Tomlin, John 

 Lambert, Lord Rosebery, Golden Empress, Globe d'Or, 

 Jeanne dArc, Robert Canned, Princess of Wales, Brook- 

 leigh Gem, Empress Eugebie, George Haigh, Bonnie Dun- 

 dee, Noel Pragnell, Princess Beatrice, Mrs. Hepper, Alfred 

 Salter, Mrs. Heale, C. B. Whitnall and Miss Haggas. 



The best collection of twelve varieties of the Anemone- 

 flowered section comprised Mr. H. Gardiner, Sir Walter 

 Raleigh, Robin Adair, Mademoiselle Cabrol, Queen Eliza- 

 beth, Nelson, Caledonia, Owen's Perfection, John Bun- 

 yan, W. L. Astor, Enterprise and Reiche Lyonnaise. 

 Although wanting, perhaps, in those characters which 

 make the Japanese varieties so popular, yet I consider that 

 these Anemone-flowered sorts are the most remarkable of 

 all the races developed from the wild Chrysanthemum, the 

 central florets in many of them being like a compact cluster 

 of the flowers of an Erica, such as E. hyemalis, surrounded 

 by a ruff or collar of ray-florets. 



The Hairy Chrysanthemums are growing in favor here, 

 the best of the varieties raised so far, namely, Hairy 

 Wonder, being shown in fine form in several collections of 

 cut blooms. Other varieties shown were Princess Ena, 

 Mrs. Godfrey, White Swan, Mrs. Dr. Ward and Vaucanson. 



The single-flowered varieties have many admirers since 

 the introduction of Mary Anderson and Jane, two of the 



most beautiful of all Chrysanthemums for pot specimens. 

 I noted the following among the cut flowers shown : Lady 

 Churchill, quilled, brick-red and gold ; Evan Cameron, 

 white ; Miss Braithwaite, deep crimson, six inches across ; 

 Mrs. B. Ware, yellow, with drooping florets ; Oceania, pale 

 blush-pink ; Rev. Rambrey, crimson ; A. T. Simmons, yel- 

 low. If I had to be limited to the cultivation of three 

 Chrysanthemums I should ask for Mary Anderson to be 

 one of them. It is charming with us this year both in the 

 conservatory and in the open borders, where now (Novem- 

 ber 1 2th) it is crowded with flowers. 



Specimen plants were represented by only a small num- 

 ber of examples, which, however, were excellent in their 

 way, enormous half-globes or standards, with the flowers 

 all spaced out equally and staked or wired separately. The 

 best of them was a gigantic semiglobular plant of Colonel 

 W. B. Smith bearing over fifty flowers, every one of which 

 was almost good enough for the exhibition table. Madame 

 Carnot, Gloriosum, John Shrimpton and Florence Percy 

 were also represented by big well-flowered specimens. 



Exhibitors, in London at any rate, have yet to learn how 

 to appreciate the Chrysanthemum when grown in a more 

 natural way. The big flowers necessary to win prizes 

 when shown singly on trays are wonderful examples of the 

 cultivator's art, but such flowers can only be grown at the 

 expense of the natural beauty of the plant, which, in fact, 

 is often made to concentrate all its energies on the produc- 

 tion of one bloom. There is also a danger of breeders 

 neglecting altogether the habit and leaf characters of the 

 plant in their pursuit of the big exhibition bloom. Many 

 of these big-flowered varieties are worthless when grown 

 as bushes to produce a dozen or so of flowers. We want 

 bushy Chrysanthemums for the decoration of the conserv- 

 atory rather than the long-legged, one-flowered monstrosi- 

 ties such as one sees in the gardens of those cultivators 

 who grow chiefly for exhibition. The thousands who now 

 grow the Chrysanthemum, from the royal gardener to the 

 poorest cottager, prefer a plant that is a picture as a whole 

 rather than one that is remarkable only for the enormous 

 size of its flower when grown on the "extension" system. 

 However, we have plenty of varieties, old though most of 

 them are, which serve the former purpose admirably. As 

 The Gardeners' Chronic/e remarks : " It seems but a few years 

 since the first really good exhibition was held or since 

 breeders' attempts to produce larger and more attractive 

 flowers. But the work has gone on apace, the strides have 

 been rapid and every one is astonished at the result." 



London. W. WdlsOU. 



Cultural Department. 



Greenhouse Cultivation for Amateurs. 



GARDENING, with a general collection of plants in the open 

 and under glass, is a rather continuous experience, but 

 when the days are shortened, the outdoor labors are past and 

 the greenhouse made ready for a new season, there is a com- 

 paratively care-free time of a few weeks — for the amateur, at 

 least. It is well to recognize at this season, that plants, as well 

 as man, appreciate a rest, and patience, rather than haste, is 

 now the proper state of mind in the matter of greenhouse 

 treatment. Surplus artificial heat with forced growth under 

 the present lowering skies is sure to result in weak plants with 

 a prison-like pallor, for which a few extra flowers are no com- 

 pensation, not to say anything of insects, which are sure to riot 

 on the weaklings later. 



It will suffice to define my greenhouse operations as strictly 

 amateurish if I record that now, on November 15th, there is 

 no fire-heat in the house. The stove has been lighted a few 

 times, but not enough heat has yet been applied to make the 

 plants at all tender or liable to injury by draughts of cold air. 

 Of course, this season has been exceptionally warm, but my 

 usual practice is to avoid all artificial heat until I am forced to 

 start it, and wait with more or less patience for clearer skies 

 and settled weather which midwinter is sure to bring. Like 

 all small greenhouses, mine warms up too rapidly and cools 

 off as suddenly ; but this is a detail without serious effect on 

 plants. No place in the world has a really constant tempera- 

 ture, and the insistance on fixed temperatures for plants under 



