October 80,1890. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
387 
length, removing any irregular ones as the bloom developes, and when 
it is observed that the bloom is nearly finished, the centre should be 
taken out, and all the short florets. This will cause the longer plants 
to close inwards. On the other hand, if the centre was left in, they 
would grow outwards. Beginners at dressing often fail to take sufficient 
out of the centre before arranging the florets. 
As to the damping, I have already told all I know on the subject. I 
may repeat, I do not think this is caused from the roots. It is, in 
my opinion, caused by the moisture that is carried in the atmosphere ; 
this condenses on the florets. The least blink of sunshine, and the 
evil is apparent. Try tiffany as a permanent shade inside over the 
opening blooms, with a heavier shade outside on cold nights, also during 
sunshine. Keep the house closed during foggy weather, and ventilate 
freely, with sufficient heat in the pipes to keep the air of the house in 
motion. There will then be less complaints about damping. I had 
thought to have had a good struggle this year with damping. I do 
not show now, therefore I scarcely like to shut the light from my Peaches. 
W. Tunnington, The Gardens, Calderstone. 
LARGE CHRYSANTHEMUM BLOOMS. 
Some writers have declaimed against the size attained by the 
new varieties of Chrysanthemum?. Where size has been obtained 
with the addition of coarseness they possess little attraction, and it 
would be unwise to place them in stands intended for competition 
if it can be avoided. The defective blooms may be quilled in their 
florets, others may be bad in colour, or they may have badly 
developed centres, points which tell heavily against them. On the 
other hand, where large blooms possess size with substance in the 
florets, well finished centres, and good colour they will undoubtedly 
tell better on the exhibition stands than smaller one3. Growers all 
value the smaller varieties for their several good points—it may be 
form, or colour, or beauty of florets, and in collections where the 
chief object is not competition more of these smaller varieties are 
grown with the large ones for variety, and there are few exhibitors 
I imagine but have favourites, which they grow for their own 
merits, and which are known to be useless for exhibition purposes. 
The extraordinary popularity of the Chrysanthemum at the 
present time is due in a very great measure to the size attained by 
the blooms as grown by the method of culture now adopted, and 
also to the interest afforded by the new varieties. 
It is apparent to all attending exhibitions which have the most 
attraction, for although groups and trained plants are much 
admired and add greatly to the exhibitions, as well as show the 
skill of the growers, the large cut blooms draw crowds of visitors 
round them, and it is the same at home displays. Several hun¬ 
dreds annually visit these gardens at this season, and whether they 
are old growers or persons new to the present state of Chrysanthe¬ 
mum culture, the largest blooms invariably receive the most praise. 
The public expect to see at exhibitions the very best productions, 
whether Chrysanthemums or other plants or flowers, arranged in 
their best form.. But while I consider size to be preferred, other 
•qualities being equal in the incurved and Japanese varieties, I think 
in the Anemone and Anemone Pompon only those varieties should 
be shown which tend to make the stand uniform, and as an illus¬ 
tration I may say that President when overgrown is quite out of 
character in a Pompon board. Much more could be written on 
this subject, but I must close my letter for the rapidly approach¬ 
ing Chrysanthemum season leaves little time for writing.— 
C. Gibson, Morden Park Gardens , Mitcham. 
Large blooms have been strongly condemned together with our 
whole system of cultivation by which such are produced. Some 
are evidently dissatisfied with the present state of things, and would 
have us return to the days when a few small Pompons and weedy 
straggling so-called bush plants of larger flowering varieties carry¬ 
ing thin weakly flowers but little larger than the Pompon varieties 
were met with in most good gardens. 
Fortunately for the Chrysanthemum and its future popularity 
we have good grounds for knowing that the dissatisfied men con¬ 
stitute a small minority, whilst each succeeding year Chrysanthe¬ 
mum shows are growing in numbers, in popularity and attractive¬ 
ness. How few now are the gardens where no disbudding is 
practised, and no attempt made to produce these large flowers com¬ 
pared with what was the case a few years ago. Where exhibiting 
is not allowed or thought of they still must be produced, as gentle¬ 
men possessing the necessary glass accommodation and employing 
gardeners are no longer content to be behind their neighbours in 
this respect. 
In the dreary month of November what can be so enlivening 
as a fine display of these large well-grown and brightly coloured 
flowers? The introductions of the last year or two have certainly 
had a tendency to increase in size, especially so the seedlings from 
America ; but fortunately along with this enlargement has come a 
decided improvement in the habit of growth and foliage. I have 
only to mention such grand new varieties as Etoile de Lyon, 
Avalanche, Condor, George Daniels, Sunflower, &c., as proof of my 
statement. We have now no varieties introduced of the type of 
Madame C. Audiguier, which will oftentimes attain a height of 
14 feet ; and I am aware that this, with other such tall growing 
varieties, are gradually disappearing from collections to give place 
to others with dwarf habit, fine foliage, and large brightly coloured 
flowers. So long as this improved habit and foliage of the plant is 
accompanied by increased size in the blooms the raisers of new 
varieties need have no fear that their work will cease to be appre¬ 
ciated or that a ready market will not be found for their introduc¬ 
tions.—W. K. W. 
THE KINGSTON CHRYSANTHEMUM SHOW. 
As an example of the method of arrangement adopted at one of the 
most popular and successful autumn shows, we gave in 1886 an illustra- 
fig. 50.— me. edwin molyneux. (See page 882.) 
tion of the Volunteer Drill Hall at Kingston-on-Thames, where the 
annual Exhibition of Chrysanthemums is held, which is here reproduced. 
It is impossible in shows of this kind to avoid some formality in the 
disposition of the exhibits ; every effort is made to relieve this as much 
as possible, and the result in this case is more than ordinarily satis¬ 
factory. Next to the walls of the building were placed the groups of 
miscellaneous plants and Chrysanthemums together, with specimens of 
the latter in several classes. The principal of these were, however, 
arranged at the end of the hall at the base of a small stage, as shown in 
the centre of our illustration, and in that position they had a most 
telling appearance. The most important among them were the very 
handsome plants from Mr. G. King, gardener to Mrs. Few, Esher, his 
half dozen specimens each 4 or 5 feet in diameter, and bearing hundreds 
of blooms, being worthily awarded the premier prize. 
The centre of the hall was devoted to the cut blooms, three tables 
extending nearly the whole length of the building, and upon a third one, 
across near the entrance, were arranged the collections of fruit—Apples 
and Pears. In the centres of the tables, between the rows of cut bloom 
boxes, were lines of table plants, “berried” plants, Primulas, &c., the 
