26o JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



plants are grown with flower-heads 5^-6 inches across ; further north, as 

 the cold increases, their chances of success become more remote. Among 

 Continental growers M. Adnet has done herculean work at his estab- 

 lishment " La Roseraie," at the Cap d'Antibes, where in 1909 he 

 effected 2700 distinct crosses, all with registered numbers giving the 

 colour of both parents ; he possesses nearly 25,000 plants, representing 

 the fourth generation of his seedlings, of every conceivable colour, 

 of which he says " the scale of colour is of incomparable richness. 

 I had commenced an endeavour to identify the tints, making use of 

 the Repertoire de Couleurs of the Chrysanthemum specialists, but I 

 was obliged to give it up — there were too many of them. It might 

 have been necessary to give them numbers, could they have been 

 conscientiously numbered, and had it not been impossible to the 

 keenest eye to catalogue them at sight." The innate variability of 

 the species as regards colour is further emphasized, for M. Adnet on 

 crossing a light pink with a deep pink had even in the first year both 

 white and yellow flower-heads. His greatest achievement, however, 

 is the production of a colour approaching violet, a variety which he 

 has named in compliment to Mr. Lynch. Adnet further alludes to 

 differences in the colours displayed by the ray- and disc-florets respec- 

 tively, and instances yellow as a correlative of dwarf ness. 



As the culture of the species and its varieties, crosses, and hybrids 

 have been discussed at considerable length in the Gardeners' Chronicle, it 

 appears only expedient to give the necessary references relating to this 

 phase of the subject. Sprenger in his garden at Vomero has had con- 

 siderable success with the species, for there plants flower from April to the 

 middle of December without protection, blooms lasting often from four to 

 six weeks on the plant, and when cut and placed in repeatedly changed 

 water retain their freshness from ten to twelve days, and in winter even 

 longer. According to him the life period of the plants is ten to 

 twelve years, after which they decline. The flower-heads, emitting no 

 appreciable scent, remain always open and slightly nod in dull or rainy 

 weather, and florists in Paris accept them in huge quantities, and sell 

 them as ' Paquerette de Barberton.' In Berlin they fetched 2 marks 

 a dozen in 1909. Lichtenstein * instituted experiments with regard to 

 the germination of the " seeds," of which one-third are usually fertile, t 

 and found that they lose their germinative power in three to four months. 

 At Cancade, Nizza, in the South of France, he has tried forcing, with 

 excellent results.* The procedure is very similar to that adopted for 

 the Lily of the Valley ; the roots are shortened to within 18-20 cm., 

 and the plants are placed together in boxes or pots which contain 

 a friable soil ; good bottom heat, not too much moisture, and ample 

 ventilation are desiderata. After fourteen days the flower-buds 

 appear, and after a further lapse of another seven days the flower- 



* Mdller's Deutsche Gartenzeit. 32 (191 2) ; I.e. 522. 



t Adnet, however, states that 90 to 95 per cent, germinate, germination usually- 

 taking place in five to eight days. Their subsequent growth is extremely rapid, 

 as they flower and fruit within nine months. 



