652 



GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



T 



Chrysanthem 



plant 



R 



Their quaint forms, 



October 8, 1898. 



to anyone if a few hundred hawkweeds are destr^eZhenTTi^r 

 on wild plants pass by unobserved. y ' nce lts ™ 



tires during the dark ages. Consequently they were promptly destroyed 

 on every possible occasion by proper-minded people. Even at the pre- 



m A w w m m w — — m 



. The rusty spots so abundant on the leaves represent the u J 



peculiar colours, and often poisonous properties, led to their being con- summer fruiting stage, of the fungus. Spores are produced in 2?' T 

 sidered uncanny, and associated with witchcraft and other peculiar prac- and germ.nate as^ soon as they are mature, and although the *Z£ j' 



- • r. — n„.w...«. — j... a deprived of the usual means ; of spore diffusion when growing on nbn 



cultivated in houses, this misfortune is more than compensated for k 

 kindly sprayings, watering, and sundry disturbances of the ohm* Zw, I 

 enable the spores to reach still healthy parts of the plants, which 

 promptly become inoculated with the disease. When the disease is fir t 

 observed all suspicious plants should be removed, and the remainoV 

 sprayed with potassium sulphide, which destroys germinating spore 

 Later in the season the leaves that have borne uredo spores now produce 

 the winter form of fruit, the spores of which do not germinate until the 

 following spring, when they inoculate the young chrysanthemum leaves 

 and give origin to the uredo stage of the disease. From the awl 



«8f 



I 



Chrysanthemum-leaf infected with Rust. 



account it will be seen how very important u is 10 conect and burn all 

 leaves bearing the winter form of fruit, as the recurrence of the disease 

 depends entirely on the presence of these spores in the vicinity of the 

 plants. G. Massee. 



Exhibiting Dahlias. 



The dahlia show, which may be said to have given birth to the National 



Dahlia Society, was held in St. James's Hall in 1858, and ever since that 



time, when a special exhibition of dahlias has been held, some attempts 



have been made to illustrate the decorative value of the dahlia. From 



the device of thirty or forty years ago, which only produced incon- 

 gruities and monstrosities, to the tables of dahlias to show their decora- 

 tive value, which was inaugurated at EarFs Court in 1893, and repro- 

 duced in 1897 at the Crystal Palace, there have been seen attempts to reach 

 this end, but they have produced but little in the way of practical results. 



All the writing and talking in the world will never get rid of the pre- 

 sent method of exhibiting the show and fancy dahlias on boards. For 

 what is the ruling purpose of exhibiting but to show a particular flower 

 in as fine a character as it is possible to obtain it, whether it be the 

 dahlia, rose, carnation, or any other. To this end special and attentive 

 culture is necessary to bring out as far as possible the possibilities of the 

 flower, and that being done, the next thing to do is to exhibit it so that 

 as much as possible of its surface can be seen, and its perfect symmetry 

 noted. A perfect show dahlia may be a formal looking flower, but there 

 is no better method of showing off" its fine proportions to better advantage 

 than when placed in contrasting lines on an old-fashioned board. All 

 competitive exhibitions must of necessity be formal, it is inevitable from 

 their very purpose. I do not think the florist who grows his dahlias 

 especially for exhibition purposes should be lectured because he prefers 

 to show his dahlias in a particular way. This particular way, sanctioned 

 by long usage and universal adoption, is conducive to a complete critical 

 examination on the part of those whose business it is to decide upon the 

 merits of competing stands of blooms, as it enables the whole surface 

 of the flower to be noticed ; and if there are defects in any they are 

 revealed. A perfect dahlia stands as an emblem of power in a flower, 

 and mankind admires power, whether it be manifested in a vegetable 

 product or human being, an animal, or a work of art. 



The present method of showing cactus, pompon, and single types on 

 wire frames is formal in the extreme, but is the means of displaying UM 

 individual blooms to the best advantage, and it is difficult to see how the 

 method can be advantageously improved upon. If dahlias are to oe 

 shown in vases, as suggested in these columns, the stems must be wirea 

 to keep them in an upright position, and then they will exhibit just as 

 much formality as when arranged on boards. There are but ^ ry w'h 

 indeed, of our large show and fancy dahlias the flower stems of whicn 

 are stout enough to support a heavy bloom in an upright position lor any 

 length of time T * ^ " ^ M ^" c varieties " 1 hc 



pompon type might uc uwuwu m — 1 — ^ - — : r , cnmpiv hat 



because the flowers are small, and the stems generally of a someone 

 rigid character. The single varieties are so fragile that their value lor 

 decorative purposes is greatly discounted by their fleeting floral semcc. 



It is, if anything, worse than the cactus varieties 

 fcht be utilised in vases of, say, a dozen blooms each 



sent day it is interesting to observe that the majority of people consider 

 it a duty, even at the expense of slight inconvenience to themselves, to 

 kick over every toadstool with which they come in contact ; an inherited 

 survival, almost unconsciously performed, persisting after the cause of its 

 origin has been forgotten. 



Again, fungi differ from the great majority of plants in not being able 

 to obtain their food directly from the soil, but are saprophytes, obtaining 

 their food from dead organic matter, or parasites, living on and obtain- 

 ing their food from living plants, or in rare instances parasitic on animals. 

 It naturally follows that fungi follow in the wake of the higher plants, 



from which they derive their food, and are never pioneers in the extension 

 of plant life. 



Finally! as a rule, parasitic fungi do not indiscriminately attack any 

 plant that comes in their way, but can only live and enjoy life fully on 

 those particular orders of plants on which their ancestors flourished. 



Puccinia I/ieraci, the Chrysanthemum Rust fungus, has long been _ ~ f . , . , f . • fl PP tina riorai scivi^ 



known to mycologists, those peculiar people who devote their time to the decorative purposes is greatly discounted by their fleeting n ^ ^ for 

 study of fungi, as a very common fungus in Britain, growing on various By all means let opportunity be afforded at our clamia exi . „ 



kinds of composite plants, as the hawkweeds, burdock, nipplewort, knap- demonstrating the possibility of producing artistic ettects in 1 5 



and there are many gardens that furnish pleasant illustrations as 

 the dahlia can be used in this way. There are hundreds of 

 have gardens decorated with dahlias that within doors furnish <? ell £ 

 illustrations of how the dahlia can be employed m brightening tnc n ^ 

 By all means make our dahlia shows as varied as is possiwe, d u ^ 

 florist who grows for exhibition follow his own inclinations and _m ^ 

 as an important part of the dahlia exhibition. There is piemy 

 for him and for his belief that the flower he tends with so roucn ag^ 

 the incarnation of every attribute of beauty, as well as ior 1 « ■ 



critic who is rich in epithet and condemnation, but poo J shoW 

 resource. All that is said against the present method of exnimu 0 

 dahlias is said against the mode of showing specimen blooms oicbjt 

 santhemums, but they will survive the shock, of these perioa"- . - ^ ^ 

 and be witnessed at exhibitions long after the suggested me no 

 attainment of artistic excellencies have proved illusive and d " a P*| cuUurilI 



I venture to throw out the suggestion that th f J 10 ^ at the end of 



methods 



Chrysanthemum Rust Fungus. 



A, uredo, cr summer-spore*, one germinating ; B, pruccinia, or winter-spores, X 4°°- 



I venture to throw out the suggestion that the 1 



weed, cVc, and such people are not in the least surprised to learn that Society might appropriately devote one of its meetings— r*. met hods 



this fungus has claimed the cultivated chrysanthemum as a host, con- August or early in September— to the production of appropna w 



sidenng that it is a member of the family specially favoured by the for utilising the dahlia for decorative purposes A paper J ar . 6 



attention of the fungus The principal reason why the fungus is so very the subject and formulating suggestions might be read, and oi 



Il anl on chrysanthemums is because these plants are just now invited. This, if carried out, may operate to bring out someth ng 



SSS l g T m Cr ° Wded comi "unities, and it is so much easier to pass adapted to be shown in public than has been suggested or Ulus 



he "ho*? nl!S? t0 an0t /? er than is the case in a state of nature > Where durin * the P ast thir *y Years. It might well become a part of tn P 



the host plants are usually scattered • besides, it entails no pecuniary loss eramme of tQ JvL „«r iSoo. RICHARD DeaN, V 



gramme of the society in the year 1899 



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ilof; 



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