THE EARLY-FLOWERING CHRYSANTHEMUM. 



429 



28 Pompon, 22 Japanese, and 4 reflexed varieties had been honoured 

 with awards, the preponderance at that time being of the Pompon 

 class. It is interesting to note that only one of the Japanese varieties 

 is in general cultivation to-day. and that is 'Madame M. Masse.' 



The cultivation of the Early-flowering Chrysanthemum is of the 

 simplest kind, and I think that the best results are obtained on mode- 

 rately rich land. This quality, in addition to the fact that it 

 succeeds in a smoky atmosphere, makes it available alike for the 

 garden of the cottager and the millionaire, and some of the finest 

 displays are to be found around the humble homes of our country 

 people. 



There is considerable diversity of opinion as to the best times and 

 methods of propagation, and also the correct time for planting out the 

 Early-flowering Chrysanthemum, and I dare say the advocates of the 

 different courses have good grounds for their beliefs. For many years 

 I have observed that cuttings put in during December and January 

 come into flower much later — as a general rule — than those propagated 

 in February, March, or even April. This seems to some extent un- 

 natural, but it is a reality all the same. I have had this question 

 discussed at a meeting of the Scottish Horticultural Association in 

 Edinburgh, and while the facts were admitted by all, not one even 

 amongst the scientific men was able to account for them. 



After I had been invited to introduce this subject to-day I set 

 myself to carry out a series of experiments with the view to securing 

 any possible information, and of getting comparative results, some of 

 which I am able to show you here to-day. 



My first object was to secure a few representative varieties, and I 

 selected 'Bronze Goacher,' 'Framfield Early White,' 'Improved 

 Masse,' 'Mrs. Wm. Sydenham,' 'Madame M. Masse,' 'Polly,' and 

 'Wells' Scarlet,' all quite distinctive in their way. I commenced to 

 take cuttings on October 27, and continued the practice at monthly 

 intervals until the end of March. In every case but the Last the same 

 general treatment was accorded to the cuttings, and eventually to the 

 rooted plants. When the cuttings were sufficiently rooted they were 

 potted into 3-inch pots and grown cool until planting time. In the case 

 of the earlier lot I had a number of plants re-potted into 5-inch pots for 

 the purpose of ascertaining whether their being grown on thus would 

 make any considerable difference in the date of flowering. The fore- 

 going were all planted out on May 5. The exception in the case of the 

 last batch was that they were not potted, but planted out direct from 

 the boxes on May 25. 



I may say that in each separate test I grew one set of plants natur- 

 ally, another had the centres pinched out, while others were cut back 

 more or less, and in several instances these various operations were 

 performed at quite different times, in order to ascertain how far the 

 date of flowering was affected by them. 



However much I should like to, it is impossible in the time at our 

 disposal to go over in detail the general results obtained by this trial, 



