GROWING CHRYSANTHEMUMS FOR PROFIT. 



183 



mention its name. Our next, Elaine, is perhaps as near per- 

 fection as we can hope to get, especially in purity of colour, 

 nearly all other whites looking yellow beside it, and, if it 

 could be had earlier in the season, I think Lady Selborne and 

 Lacroix would disappear from the market. I have tried to get 

 it early by early striking, and taking the crown buds, but after 

 several trials have given up the attempt, as though the plants 

 promised splendidly, the blooms came very rough and quite out 

 of character, indeed hardly recognisable. A useful late crop of 

 Elaines may often be had from early plants which have grown 

 exhibition blooms, as, if the stems are strong and well ripened, 

 they will, after being headed and placed in a light house, break 

 and bloom all the way down. Of course the flowers will be 

 small, but they come at a time when anything pure white is 

 acceptable. 



Source d'Or, golden bronze and orange, is one of the most 

 beautiful Chrysanthemums existing, and always sells well in a cut 

 state. As remarked before, it should always be flowered naturally 

 in clusters, as it is much more beautiful in this form, while the 

 flowers are scarcely increased in size by disbudding. A newer 

 kind, Charles Delmar, in somewhat similar colour, but more 

 ruddy, will be found valuable for succession, being free and of 

 very good habit. The last of the mid-season kinds I shall men- 

 tion is Cullingfordii, invaluable for its colour, a grand rich crimson. 



The first of the late kinds is Fair Maid of Gruernsey, a 

 grand old favourite. The flowers, though somewhat loose in 

 form, are very pure, and work well into all kinds of wreaths and 

 other funereal arrangements. It should be carefully noted that 

 the " Fair Maid " is very susceptible to injury from frost, three or 

 four degrees sufficing to spoil every bud. It should not, therefore, 

 be left outside too long in the hope of retarding it, or the whole 

 crop may be lost. Another late white, Fleur de Marie, a very 

 pretty Anemone-flowered kind, is a favourite with some of the 

 growers for Covent Garden, but has never been profitable with 

 me. It is a delicate grower, and unless well done many of its 

 flowers are defective ; at its best it produces but a scanty crop of 

 blooms, and unless these fetch a good figure it will lose money 

 for the grower. 



Among the later kinds Fulton stands out prominently 

 when well done, its rich golden yellow not being surpassed by 



