S. Ck,i\i\ell & Gj;ui(ie. 
CHRYSANTHEMUMS AT SWANLEY. 
HOW NEW CHRYSANTHEMUMS ARE PRODUCED. 
Interview with Mr. H. Cannell, F.R.H.S., abridg^ed from 
“Black and White,” 10th October, 1896. 
KErRESKNTATIVE of Black and Wkite went down to get some information on this 
subject from Mr. Hbnky Cannei.l at “The Home of Flowers,” Swunley. For some time 
after his arrival he was content to wander about tiie 17 acres of ground with kindly guides and 
delight his eyes with such a wealth of flowers as is not often granted to the I.ondoner to see except 
in dreams. The Geraniums were at their best, and there were^ great sheets of radiant colour. 
In one secluded corner it was iteculiarly pleasant to linger. TItis was the rockery, wliere water 
was plentiful, and cool green things enabled one to defy the prevailing heat. Wild Strawberries 
grew there, and a clump of Sea Fink and a big plant of the Horn Poppy. Wherever 
von went there was one infinitely refreshing thing— the innumerable tall hedges, which make a most 
delightful shelter, for there is wind among the leaves upon the sultriest day, while the sunlight silvers 
«hem as they tremble. . i 
Mr. Henry Cannell is great on all Horticulture. Special attention has been given to Begonias and 
Chrysanthemums ; the former were everywhere in evidence, and were beautiful beyond words, and 
Mr. Cannell must enjoy the spectacle after a fashion whereof the keenest lover of beauty is 
incapable, for many of the loveliest varieties there seen were horn, so to speak, under his hands at 
Swanley. . ... 
But it was ahont Chrysanthemums that the interviewer was chiefly curious, and especially 
about the raising of new varieties. Mr. Cannell showed a lot of seedlings from seed imported 
from Australia lasCyear, and went on to explain that it is the simplest matter in the world, 
-when you know how, to send Chrysantheinnm plants to Australia so that they shall arrive there 
alive and flourish. Then he took a catalogue, at the interviewer's suggestion, and recalled some 
•of the innumerable varieties which have been produced at Swanley. “ And how do you set about 
raising new varieties?” Then Mr. Cannell picked a Fuchsia bloom, and splitting it down the 
centre, showed and described the whole structure of the seeding organs— the pollen-bearing anthers, 
the pistil to receive the pollen and conduct its effects into the seed vessels Nature in the usual 
course perforins all this by the aid of wind and insects, and Mr. Cannell explained that it is 
here that the art of the expert steps in, and, hy a judicious selection of the parent flowers, 
he influences the progeny to a very great extent and produces occasionally a new variety 
which is an improvement in size, shape, colour, or habit on all existing sorts. Chrysanthemums 
. are substantially the same as other flowers in formation, and a like process has to be performed, 
but, flowering at such a sunless season, other precautions have to he taken, the object of all being 
to throw the whole vigour of the plant into its seeding organs. ‘‘ It has been by perseverance to 
meet the desire for new kinds that we have become so especially known for the enormous 
improvements we have made. We are now sending back to Li Hung Chang much larger and 
more elegant flowers, of brighter colours, with more refined shapes, and plants of stronger growth 
than the first we got from China and Japan, where they are indigenous and esteemed as the 
national flower.” 
In reply to further questions by the interviewer, -Mr. Cannell stated that anyone giving time and 
studied attention to the subject would be equally us likely to produce good results. It is very 
ticcessary to keep all the seeding organs perfectly dry, the pollen in the first place, and the other 
parts after that is transferred, by the removal of all damping petals. November is the month when 
most oLith^'is done, as the'majority of varieties flower then. The seed is sown in pans in February, 
■and laieir^i the seedlings are pricked out. By the time the Autumn comes the healthy plants — 
and those which are not healthy are rejected without ceremony — may have from one to three good 
flowers on them. These are e.\amined, and, once in a hundred times perhaps, something that is 
new and beautiful is found. 
“And what comes next ? When do you proclaim your discovery ? ” “ The plant is grown for two 
■years, for, curiously enough, the cuttings taken from a most promising seedling may fail to produce 
lilooms. worth showing. But when we are perfectly sure that we have produced a valuable variety, 
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