Ornamentals. 



43 



sidered too coarse in Europe, especially in England, where 

 the compact Chinese section seems to be looked upon with 

 the most favor. The Chinese varieties do not flourish satis- 

 factorily in many localities in this country, especially when 

 grown out-of-doors all summer. Mildew plays sad havoc 

 with them, frequently destroying the foliage. Mrs. George 

 Bullock, of the Waterer collection, would, I think, suit the 

 people of England. It is a robust grower, yet quite dwarf in 

 habit, and its dark, healthy foliage forms an ample setting for 

 its large, pure, white flowers, which are full to the center. 

 The floret-petals are narrow and somewhat erect, though not 

 by any means stiff. It is a great favorite here, both for ex- 

 hibition and cut-flower purposes. It is believed to be identi- 

 cal with Domination and Milkmaid, and it is to be regretted 

 that some reputable men in the business retain all three of the 

 names on their lists without a word of caution or explanation. 

 A good word could be said for nearly every variety of the col- 

 lection. 



Shortly after these new and unique varieties were intro- 

 duced to commerce, Mr. W. K. Harris began to experiment 

 with seed saving and seedling raising, and it is now generally 

 conceded that he has raised more sterling varieties than all 

 other growers in this country combined. 



A demand for very large flowers on long stiff stems for cut- 

 flowers has sprung up in most of the large cities, and the 

 selection of seedlings is influenced to a large extent to supply 

 that demand. 



The prices realized this year have been fairly remunerative 

 to the grower, especially in the New York market, where the 

 wholesale price frequently goes as high as $50 per 100 blooms. 

 In Philadelphia the highest price paid was $25 per 100, and 

 these were for the choicest of the choice. 



According to the European standard, it is not correct taste 

 to cultivate, to the exclusion of all other varieties, what are 

 termed the coarse sorts. There are large numbers of the 

 Japanese varieties to which the name "coarse" cannot be ap- 

 plied, however. An instance is James Y. Murkland, which 

 maybe termed single. It shows the center very conspicuously. 

 It has three or four rows of exquisite white floret-petals, which 

 have a tendency to curl. This was raised by Mr. John 

 Thorpe, the pioneer chrysanthemum man in this country. 



