524 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ I'ecember 11,189(. 
•greenhouse Rhododendrons, and a host of others ; also white Amaryllises 
are a new feature, and are being grown by thousands. 
The Crotons are in superb condition, and Mr. Ranger finds some 
difficulty in keeping a stock of medium-sized plants. Several well 
known varieties have been raised, Aigburth Gem being one of the last, 
and it is indeed a gem ; there is another to follow soon, and in its 
present condition it may be briefly described as a miniature form of 
Warreni, with a greater percentage of yellow in its corkscrew-like 
ioliage.—W. B. 
LC 
Chrysanthemum Mrs. Alpheus Hardy. 
Possibly' in one year more interest has been centred in this novelty 
than in any other Chrysanthemum, and probably for the first season no 
variety has given more disappointment. Numerous remarks and com¬ 
plaints have necessarily been made respecting its future prospects as an 
exhibition flower of the first rank. I have seen this season four blooms 
all in prominent winning collections, which go a long way to prove it 
■can be made a gocd exhibition flower. At any rate I would advise those 
who may have met with disappointment to take courage by this fact, 
and if any of your readers contemplate its extermination from their 
collections in future not to be so hasty, but give it yet another trial if 
only to prove what has been the most popular opinion, that being driven 
in heat so rapidly in order to produce sufficient stock to meet the public 
demand its constitution has necessarily been weakened thereby for a time. 
It may not be amiss for me to repeat for what it is worth, the remark 
of at least two good growers who have been the fortunate producers of 
large creditable specimens. At the Kent County Show Mr. Blick ex¬ 
hibited a remarkably fine built flower, and he told me that that was 
the only one he was able to cut fit to exhibit from ten plants grown by 
him. On the other hand Messrs. Drover told me that they only grew 
two plants, and had been able to exhibit two flowers, one in their 
winning collection staged at Portsmouth, and the other the magnificent 
Bloom found in the Centenary class at the National ; they were further 
•of an opinion that the bloom staged by them at Portsmouth was the 
finer bloom of the two. Numerous readers of the Journal will, I am 
cure, carry with them throughout the forthcoming year pleasant remem¬ 
brances of the Aquarium Mrs. Alpheus Hardy as being a really good 
and attractive flower. The third bloom which it was my privilege to 
admire was exhibited at the Crystal Palace, and grown by Mr. Alpin, 
gardener to W. Meath Baker, Esq., Gloucester, and the fourth by the 
small band of Lambeth amateurs. I am quite ready to admit that if 
only five good flowers of this noted novelty has been exhibited this 
season it is but a small percentage for the number of plants grown ; 
but spare it yet another year, and bear in mind that when produced it is 
a most striking and telling variety in a collection of.twenty-four distinct. 
—J. W. Moorman. 
Annie Clibran. 
From all I can learn this deserves to be more widely known and 
grown. This almost goes without saying when it is noted that it is a 
sport from the well known and popular Mdlle. Lacroix. I am reminded 
to draw your attention to it by receiving the subjoined reference in a 
letter this morning from an extensive grower “ I regret you did not 
see my blooms of Miss Annie Clibran, which I had for the first time 
this season from the extensive Altrincham (Manchester) firm of that 
name when judging at our local Show. It is the pink form (sport) of 
Mdlle. Lacroix, and with me promises to make a fine exhibition flower, 
especially when required early. If cut down, say in May, it makes an 
admirable specimen, and might be utilised for groups.” 
Outdoor Chrysanthemums and the Weather. 
After the unusually severe frosts on the nights of November 27th 
and 28th outdoor Chrysanthemums, even protected by walls and 
attached canvas framework screens, as mine are, had their beauty sadly 
marred, and it is doubtful if any further blooms will expand. The 
foliage was all limp and parboiled looking ; and this is not strange 
remembering we had 11° of frost, or 18° Fahr., on the night of the 28th, 
a very unusual result in the south of Ireland, and some years not 
registered at all. Last year I sent you a bouquet of outdoor Chrysan¬ 
themums, beautiful bright and fresh, to grace your Christmas table, but 
there is no chance of being able to do so this. Curiously enough, although 
there has been a severe snowstorm in Dublin and northwards, there has 
been none except on mountain peaks in Munster.—W. J. Murphy 
Clonmel, 
Chrysanthemums Recently Introduced. 
New varieties of the Chrysanthemum are being sent out annually 
in such large numbers, especially the Japanese, that it is impossible for 
any private grower with only limited means of growing and housing 
them properly, as well as his general collection, to be able to grow many 
that have not been thoroughly tested. I generally have a few novelties 
each year, and will here give my opinipn of those that I consider worthy 
of cultivation for exhibition blooms, and shall be glad if other growers 
will do the same with regard to varieties they may have grown during 
the last season— i.e., giving the height of plant, time the cuttings were 
received, whether strong or weak variety, and whether crown or terminal 
buds were taken. If this be done we shall be bestowing a great benefit 
upon each other, as much valuable time may be saved. 
For instance, the first year that grand variety, Edwin Molyneux, 
came out many growers, myself included, took the terminal bud, as the 
crown appeared in our opinion too early, with the result that we had to 
be content with what might be fairly termed a very fine single variety. 
Mrs. E. W. Clark. —An enormous incurved Japanese variety, the 
colour silvery purple. It is a strong grower, of dwarf sturdy habit, 
height 3 feet, and crown buds are best. The blooms last a long time 
after being fully expanded, in fact a bloom of this variety I showed on 
November 4th withstood all the journeys, and was still in good con¬ 
dition, and was shown on the 11th. 
Robert Crawford (Japanese) has large spreading florets, colour 
pleasing silvery lilac, strong grower, height 3 feet ; crown buds. A grand 
variety. 
LfcoN FraiChe (Japanese), outer florets incurving, colour fleshy pink, 
rather strong grower, height 4 feet,'crown buds ; a promising exhibition 
variety. The above were all received, rooted, on March 1st. 
Willie (incurved), sport from Captivation, colour yellowish bronze, a 
strong grower, but unlike its parent does not grow nearly so high ; it 
only attained the height of 3 feet with me, and the florets came much 
broader, and should it keep this character it will make a good front 
row flower. If not the last variety that obtained a certificate for and 
in the name of our late lamented secretary, it was certainly the last 
incurved variety. • 
Mrs. S. Coleman (incurved), sport from Princess of Wales, has 
been sufficiently seen to be known to most exhibitors, but as shown by 
exhibitors it is certainly too much like Miss Haggas, only the lower 
florets showing very slightly the bronze which it is supposed and 
really does possess when in its true character. I shall not be surprised 
to see a good stand disqualified at anytime should this variety be shown 
in its pale form in the same stand as Miss Haggas.— John DOUGHTY, 
Angley Park Gardens. 
[Mr. Doughty’s suggestions as to notes on varieties in the form he 
adopts is a valuable one, and we hope other correspondents will follow 
with similar hints.] 
Dressing Chrysanthemum Blooms. 
This important subject to growers and exhibitors was treated upon 
on Friday evening, November 7th, at the fortnightly meeting of the 
Walkley (Sheffield) Floral and Horticultural Society, in an address by 
Mr. Thomas Howe, a Sheffield workman, who for some years has taken 
great interest in the dressing of blooms, and has become an adept in the 
art. This year he is cultivating extensively for the purposes of exhibi¬ 
tion. His remarks, which were confined exclusively to the incurved 
section, were received with great pleasure by his hearers, and he was 
complimented on the practical advice he gave. 
He said in the course of his address that it required a great amount 
of practice, close attention, a staid mind, a good nerve, and a steady 
hand to accomplish the object of dressing a bloom perfectly. But 
while these qualities were essential on the part of the dresser something 
was required equally important on the part of the grower. It was 
impossible for a badly grown bloom to be dressed to perfection, though 
much is done to improve such, and the popular idea is that much more 
can be done, which is a great mistake. The cultivator who grows good 
flowers renders the work of dressing easier, and the results are far 
greater, because there is good ground to work upon. 
In commencing to dress a flower he advocated that the centre 
should not be' removed at random, but left in a great many cases 
until the finish, when the portion not needed could easily be removed. 
He laid great weight upon the importance of every grower for exhibi¬ 
tion dressing his own flowers so that he could watch their development, 
and from the time when they are about one-third grown look out for 
any misplaced or deformed florets, and remove them at once, leaving the 
centre until a few days before the exhibition in the case of such varie¬ 
ties as Golden Beverley. He recommended Mrs. G. Bundle and G. 
Glenny as good varieties for beginners to commence with, because there 
is plenty of material in these flower to work upon, though they are 
naturally small. The worst varieties to dress were the Queen and the 
Empress family as they were long in the florets. The varieties with 
narrow florets, such as Princess Beatrice, Princess of Wales, and Hero 
of Stoke Newington, did not take half the time to dress. 
Varieties such as Barbara, Golden Beverley, which have short-spurred 
florets, can only be dealt with by removing faulty plants and bad 
centres, and arranging the perfect florets as regularly as possible. It 
required some observation and attention to ascertain the best methods 
to follow in the treatment of the various varieties. No particular 
rules could be laid down as to how all varieties should be dressed, nor 
what sort of instrument should be used in every case. He had seen 
tweezers used which were too broad and gripped the florets too tightly. 
This caused injury to the tender skin of some, and in some varieties, 
particularly dark ones, this bruising was visible by a rusty appearance. 
Tools as fine as possible, he thought, must be used, and the greatest 
care be taken to learn the readiest and best means of using them. 
Disqualifications in Chrysanthemum Classes. 
I do not remember a season when so many instances of disqualifica¬ 
tion have taken place amongst exhibitors of cut blooms as has been tha 
