128 



JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



RAISING NEW VARIETIES OF CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 

 By Mr. Chas. E. Shea, F.R.H.S. 

 [Bead November 13, 1894.] 



The time will probably sooner or later arrive to the amateur 

 when the devotion of his interests in connection with the 

 Chrysanthemum to the mere object of competitive exhibition at 

 our flower shows will be attended with a certain sense of insuf- 

 ficiency. A period of success, more or less conspicuous, will be 

 followed by a growing appreciation of the fact that " showing," 

 after all, has aspects savouring rather of routine than of variety, 

 and the day at last arrives when the ardent amateur longs for new 

 fields of conquest, and, so far as he is concerned at least, deter- 

 mines that, as to competitive exhibition, le jeu ne vaut pas la 

 chandelle. And before him lies a most tempting and attractive 

 vista in connection with his favourite flower, a vista seeming to 

 have no end — the creation of new varieties, and possibly, in the 

 dim future, the inducing of " sports " by artificial means. 



With the first -named subject only have we to deal to-day — 

 namely, the crossing and raising of Chrysanthemums from seed 

 of home production. 



In starting upon his venture the amateur will doubtless be 

 ambitious to secure that public recognition of the value and 

 merit of his work which not only adds zest to his labours, but 

 furnishes the only true practical proof that his efforts have not 

 been unsuccessful. The outlook in this direction is certainly 

 not encouraging, for it is not possible to ignore the fact that 

 in France and many other Continental countries, in the United 

 States of America, in addition to the old homes of the Chrysanthe- 

 mum, China and Japan, a large body of experts are at work upon 

 the same matter. In America probably 100,000 seedlings are 

 raised and tried each season, while in our own country the trade 

 growers raise amongst them, it is estimated, nearly 10,000 

 seedlings, though doubtless mostly from imported seed. 



Then, again, the climatic conditions are against us in this 

 country. It is, of course, possible, by variation of time of striking 

 and stopping the plants, to have Chrysanthemums in flower all 

 the year round, and the summer would doubtless afford a better 

 condition of climate than the winter ; but the ordinary amateur, 

 with limited facilities at his disposal, must attack the matter 



