78 
plants with close- mesh netting may eliminate 
the pest, which, however, disappears with 
the advent of cool nights. Red spider, and 
black and green aphis are readily controlled 
by contact spraying with nicotine extracts. 
Borers working in the stalks may be re- 
moved without much harm to the plant by 
splitting the stalk with a sharp knife and 
killing the insect. 
Dahlia Seedlings. 
Those who desire to save their own seed 
should now select the best blooms for that 
purpose, marking them in some way. A 
good method is by tying a piece of string or 
raffia around the stem. It takes quite a time 
for the seed to mature. When it is ripe the 
pod turns brown and becomes dry. It should 
then be gathered and further dried by ex- 
posure to the sun in a window or similar 
place, when a brisk rubbing in the hands 
will loosen the seeds. Growing anything 
from seed is rendered much more interesting 
by keeping track of the parents; an easy thing 
to do in the case of Dahlias, as one pod will 
produce many seeds. 
If you are growing seedlings and intend 
planting the tubers next year, keep a record. 
Professionals do this by means of numbers, 
as to color and habit, so that you may ar- 
range intelligently in the future, getting 
colors harmoniously neighbored and the tall 
flowers behind those of medium stature and 
the dwarfs in front. Keep in mind that you 
want to work for a dwarf habit of growth, 
also a bushy one, with blooms that look you 
in the face. Many beautiful varieties are 
droopy in habit and must be turned up for 
admiration. A stiff-necked generation is de- 
sired. The Dahlia of the future won’t need 
staking. Another quality, that of keeping 
after being cut, is susceptible of being culti- 
vated. The old, stiff, ball like flower kept ; 
some of the newer styled ones do also. Con- 
stitution, the ability to stand cutting, is in- 
dicated in Dahlias as in humans by a strong 
neck. Some of the most beautiful new 
Peony- flowered sorts are weak-necked. 
Bloom is not everything. The Dahlia foli- 
age is attractive and can be made much 
more so. There is no reason why it should 
not be variegated. For massing effects, foli- 
age and habit of growth are as important as 
quality of bloom. Possibly a cross might be 
effected between the garden kinds and the 
sea Dahlia, with startling results. The pos- 
sibility is most entrancing when we think of 
the wonderful foliage and drouth-resisting 
habits of the latter and the admirable cut- 
ting quality of its blooms. It opens up a 
vista of glorified Shasta daisies in all con- 
ceivable colors.— A. D. Robinson in Cali- 
fornia Garden. 
| The American Dahlia Society. [ 
The American Dahlia Society has en- 
gaged the entire conservatory and roof 
garden of the Hotel Pennsylvania, op- 
posite the Pennsylvania Station, 32nd- 
33rd Streets and Eighth Avenue, New 
York, for September 27, 28, and 29, for 
the Annual Exhibition of the Society. 
The Exhibition will open on the eve- 
ning of September 27 and close on the 
evening of the 29th. 
The roof garden is used during the 
summer as a restaurant. It has good 
daylight on all four sides and the en- 
trance is through the conservatory on 
the roof. The space is very large, some- 
thing like 12,000 square feet in a long 
hall giving wonderful decorative op- 
portunities. 
Slower (Brower 
A determined effort will be made to 
make this the largest exhibition ever 
given of any single flower. Plans will 
be rapidly perfected and developments 
will be stated later. 
Edward C. Vick, Secretary. 
Notes on the 
Hardy Chrysanthemum. 
By John C. Wister. 
[ Written expressly for The Flower Grower. ] 
I was much pleased to see in the April 
issue of The Flower Grower Mr. 
Groschner’s article on the hardy Chrys- 
anthemums. I am glad to see that he 
thinks it is destined to become our third 
greatest perennial, and he has hit the 
nail squarely on the head when he 
states that the present lack of popular- 
ity for it is due to the fact that so many 
worthless varieties are offered in nur- 
sery catalogues. 
This situation I believe to be due to 
the fact that breeding of Pompon Chrys- 
anthemums has been carried on by pro- 
fessionals with a view to raising beau- 
tiful flowers to sell as cut flowers, and 
they are willing to grow these plants in 
the greenhouses in order to obtain these 
results. There can be no doubt what- 
soever that the results in this line have 
been remarkable, and that the present 
day lists of Pompon and single Chrys- 
anthemums contain varieties which are 
exceedingly beautiful, but the mere fact 
that they were bred for indoor growing 
has led the breeder to forget entirely 
the requirements of outdoor flowers. It 
is breeding such as this that has given 
us the variety Lillian Doty, to which Mr. 
Groschner refers. If we are to have 
beautiful hardy Chrysanthemums in 
the garden our amateurs must take a 
hand either in breeding these flowers 
for the conditions under which they are 
to be grown, or they must create a de- 
mand for them which will induce pro- 
fessionals to do this breeding. 
I can agree fully with Mr. Groschner 
in his statement of the disappointment 
which follows when these modern vari- 
eties are planted outdoors, and when 
the early frost or heavy rain storm 
spoils their beauty. I have tried during 
the last ten years well over 300 vari- 
eties of Chrysanthemums outdoors, and 
of all these I have at present not more 
then 25 left which have proved hardy, 
and what is still more important to 
have flowers which are able to resist 
frost and which are not spoiled by heavy 
wind-storms or the soaking rains that 
we are apt to get in October. To 
mention but a single example, I have 
tried nearly all the white varieties 
which are listed in catalogues prior to 
1917, and out of all of them I found only 
one Maid of Kent where the flower is not 
browned by the first frost. In favor- 
able seasons such as last year it is true 
that Diana, The Hub, White Lillian Doty 
and others will open their flowers per- 
fectly outdoors, but such a season as 
1919 comes not more than twice in a ten 
year period, and in all ordinary years a 
frost the middle of October will ruin 
such tender flowers. 
I have tried also the so-called Septem- 
ber blooming varieties and have found 
May, 1920 
them a great disappointment, first, in 
that they do not bloom in September at 
all, and secondly, that they are poor 
growers and lack hardiness. Of all the 
varieties of these that I have tried I am 
retaining only a Normandie, Yellow Nor- 
mandie, Goacher's Crimson and L’ Argen- 
tullais. These bloom early enough in 
October to make them a decided acqui- 
sition, but they are not as hardy as the 
later blooming ones, and from present 
indications all plants of them left out 
the past winter are dead. This brings 
me to another important point and that 
is; are any varieties of Hardy Chrysan- 
themums really hardy? Every winter 
some of my plants have been killed and 
from present indications nine-tenths of 
the stock which I left outdoors last fall 
is dead and I have word that all Chrys- 
anthemums in a nearby garden have 
been killed. We have always regarded 
here that the only absolutely hardy 
varieties were the old fashioned Baby 
which blooms too late to be satisfactory, 
and Brown Bessie, and one or two others 
of the small button varieties. If what 
I have said about the lack of hardiness 
of these plants is not true in other sec- 
tions, I would be glad to learn it, but 
from what I have seen I think that 
there is room for a great selection for 
hardiness. 
I hope that Mr. Groschner’s article 
will call the attention of garden lovers 
to the good and bad points of various 
Chrysanthemums, in order that a more 
intelligent selection of them may be 
made in the future. 
Sobarias. 
The Sobarias are better known under the 
name of Spiraea and the one most commonly 
listed in the catalogues is Spiraea sorbifolia. 
They are a handsome genus of flowering 
shrubs and it is really a wonder they are not 
more often met with in shrubbery plantings. 
The planter is usually concerned more 
about a plant’s general appearance and time 
of flowering than botanical differences. Some 
of the points in their favor that should com- 
mend them to the gardener are : They are 
adaptable and vigorous in their growth, some- 
times too much so, as they spread rapidly by 
means of suckers when the position suits 
them. They flower during the summer when 
there is a dearth of bloom on the average 
shrubbery border. A moist, partially shaded 
position suits them, and it is often difficult to 
select a shrub for such a place that will be so 
much at home. The foliage is rich and hand- 
some and due to the habit of growth usually 
clothes the plant to the ground. 
The one fault, if it be a fault, is the un- 
sightly appearance of the dead panicles when 
the bloom is past. These, however, are 
easily removed which gives the plant a longer 
season of good appearance than most flow- 
ering plants. 
The different kinds are all much alike in 
habit but flower at different times. The first 
to bloom is the Sobaria sorbifolia, which comes 
in June, followed by S. stellipilla, S. asurgens, 
S. arborea and, last of all, S. Aitchisonii in 
September. — National Nurseryman. 
The demand for the finer varieties of 
flower stocks of all kinds has been with- 
out precedent this season. In fact, 
some things were sold out before Jan- 
uary 1st and because of the extreme 
scarcity prices naturally have been 
somewhat advanced. 
