CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 



273 



glad of the reference to carnations. Good-rooted plants he 

 never knew to die, although many people were afraid to try 

 them. He saw plants which had been planted out in November 

 in Northumberland and Durham stand the winter admirably. 



CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 



By Mr. W. H. Lees. 



[Bead October 27, 1896.] 



My endeavour in writing this paper must be chiefly confined to 

 the management of plants grown for the production of specimen 

 flowers ; but before considering this I should like to offer a 

 few remarks on the wonderful progress that has been made 

 in raising new varieties during the six years which have 

 passed since the very interesting and exhaustive Conference on 

 Chrysanthemums held by this Society in November 1889. 



Mr. Harman Payne, in concluding a most interesting contri- 

 bution to that meeting on the history of the plant, made the 

 following prophetic remark : " What surprises are in store for 

 us in the near future no one can tell, but I venture to predict 

 there will be many, for the remarkable extension of Chrys- 

 anthemum growing in all parts of the world must inevitably 

 lead to much that we can scarcely conceive." How fully this 

 prediction has been justified is well known to most of us, but a 

 reference to the lists of varieties published in the Conference 

 Report will perhaps show better than I can otherwise convey, 

 the rapid strides that have been made, more especially in the 

 Japanese section. At that time " Mme. Clemence Audiguier " was 

 considered the best Japanese variety, yet in the returns for 1895 

 it was not even included in the best hundred ; in fact, quoting 

 from an audit, compiled by Mr. C. E. Shea, of the varieties 

 exhibited last season on the principal prize stands throughout 

 the country, it was only once shown in a total of 188 varieties, 

 which plainly shows what an enormous number must have been 

 introduced, to supersede it to such an overwhelming extent. Of 

 these 188, only 23 were in commerce previous to 1891. 

 ' Boule d'Or' (for a long time a great favourite) is the oldest of 



