December 8, 1892. ] 
.JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
509 
Dates of the N.C.S. Exhibitions. 
I AM pleased to learn that the dates of the Exhibitions for 1893 are 
now settled. There are to be four meetings, the first commencing on 
October 11th for early blooms. The principal Show is fixed to open on 
November 7th, a later one on December 6th. The dace of the September 
Show is not yet announced. They are three-days Shows. Provincial 
societies might well follow the example of the National in early 
announcement of the Shows, but they will not perhaps do so in their 
duration.—E. Molyneux. 
Edinburgh Chrysanthemum Show. 
It is reported that 26,000 persons visited this Exhibition, and that 
over £850 were taken at the turnstiles, a considerable increase over 
last year’s receipts. This fact affords ample evidence that the Chrys¬ 
anthemum is increasing in popularity in the north. 
The Kent County Chrysanthemum Society. 
We are informed that the next Exhibition of this Society will be 
held on November 1st, 1893. The Shows, which are held at Blackheath, 
are always looked forward to as amongst the earliest near London, and 
are invariably good. Mr. H. J. Jone3, Ryecroft Nursery, Lewisham, is 
the Honorary Secretary. 
Well-grown Specimen Plants. 
metropolitan exclusiveness, it is time they were stirred up to act in the 
matter. We have in Liverpool, Birmingham, and most of our important 
centres men who both know the Chrysanthemum and can grow it in 
such form as not to fear competition in any field, and no society can be 
called truly “ National ” which does not include a fair percentage of 
such men, both in its rank and file and also in its executive. 
Mr. Dean ignores the latter part of my letter, but I hope the subject 
will not be allowed to drop until an improvement has been made, being^ 
persuaded that the matter is of vital importance to the Society. Of 
course I am aware that it is easier to grumble than to suggest practical 
means of escaping our difficulties, but free ventilation will keep the 
matter to the front and encourage all well wishers to the N.C.S. to be 
on the alert so that no really good chance of obtaining a better place of 
meeting may be missed.— Chas. E. Pearson. 
The Certificates of the National Chrysanthemum Society, 
I have looked in vain for a satisfactory reply to Mr. Godfrey’s 
complaint which lately appeared in your columns, and consider some 
further explanation or action is due from the Committee of this Society. 
Mr. Godfrey appears to have brought a definite charge against one of 
its members in a letter that was placed in the hands of the officials. If 
this charge can be denied it certainly ought to be, and so far there does 
not appear to have been any explicit denial. Such measures as were 
proposed to Mr. Godfrey may not be unknown in country villages, but 
in a large body which aims at being national and taking the foremost 
position in everything connected with the culture of the Chrysanthemum 
one naturally expects to find the executive composed entirely of 
gentlemen who are above all such practices, and are able to sink 
personal matters entirely out of sight when acting in a national 
capacity. If this cannot be accomplished the Society will certainly 
lose favour with its country friends.—W. H. Divers, Ketton Hall 
Gardens, Stamford. 
Will you kindly insert in your next issue what I think will be of 
interest to your numerous readers, and especially to Chrysanthemum 
growers '? The following varieties of Chrysanthemums I have seen to-day, 
December 5th, grown by Mr. Friend, gardener to the Hon. P. C. Glyn, 
Rook’s Nest, Oxted Specimen plants of Peter the Great, Madame C. 
Audiguier, La Nymphe, and Maiden’s Blush. They were all grown in 
10-inch pots, trained out, and measure 5i feet in diameter. Several of 
the plants have over 300 blossoms.—H. E. Coppin. 
Certificated Chrysanthemums. 
A meeting of the Floral Committee of the National Chrysanthemum 
Society was held at the Royal Aquarium on Wednesday, December 7th. 
A few novelties were staged, and but only one first-class certificate was 
awarded. This was to Mr. R. Owen, Maidenhead, for Japanese Anemone 
Enterprise, a creamy yellow centre with pinkish lilac florets. Mr. Owen 
also sent a white incurved Japanese, which was commended. 
C. B. Withnall, a promising incurved shown by Mr. Owen, the Com¬ 
mittee wished to see again. Messrs. Pitcher & Manda, Hextable, sent, 
among others, a pretty incurved Japanese named Mrs. Lay, which the 
Committee wished to see again. Messrs. H. Cannell & Sons, fewanley, 
sent Mdlle. Marie Recourva, a large, loose, white Japanese, and the 
Committee wished to see this again. 
Rugby Chrysanthemum Society and the Gardeners’ Orphan 
Fund. 
May 1 be allowed a small space in your paper to sincerely thank all 
exhibitors and others who so generously contributed flowers, fruit, 
plants, and vegetables to the stall held in aid of the above Fund at the 
Society’s late exhibition, and to state that the proceeds accruing there¬ 
from amounted to £9 2s. 6d. ? A cheque for this sum has been for¬ 
warded to the Treasurer of the Fund.— William Bryant, Secretary, 
[We should be pleased to find space for many announcements of 
this nature. The orphans, if they knew of such kind acts, would clap 
their hands with glee. - ) 
W. W. Coles. 
I have had several plants of Chrysanthemum W. W. Coles which pro¬ 
duced blooms of two colours, specimens enclosed. I presume the red one 
No. 1 is the true colour, although in every case the yellow blooms appeared 
first. I should like to know if this variety is subject to sporting in this 
way, and if the sport is worth trying to “ fix.” The plants were all 
struck in March last, and the crown buds taken towards the end of 
August.—J. H. W. 
[The chestnut coloured bloom is correct and good, the yellowish one 
vsry far from being in a condition for its merits to be estimated. There 
can be no harm in establishing the sport if this can be done, though the 
variations may be the consequence of early buds. Perhaps some of our 
readers will be able to say whether or not W. W. Coles is subject to 
sporting with them.] 
National Chrysanthemum Society. 
Our Secretary’s smart reply to my remarks in the last issue of the 
Journal of Horticulture (page 480) is, 1 am afraid, owing to my lack 
of definition, somewhat wide of the mark. They were in each case, I 
believe, directed at the Floral Committee, which, with one exception, is 
entirely recruited from London or its neighbourhood, and not at the 
« General; ” but even in this case, with the honourable exception 
brought forward by Mr. Dean, I fail to find the name of one grower 
from the provinces on the list. 
If this be owing to the apathy of the provincial societies, and not to 
New Chrysanthemums. 
For several years I have carefully made notes of any new or rare 
arieties that have come under my notice for the benefit of readers of 
he Journal of Horticulture, and from the numerous letters received I 
,m led to believe that my selection has proved of service to many. 
Jore varieties than ever have appeared this season, and the lengthy lists 
n catalogues are almost bewildering to those who have not the oppor- 
,unity of having seen the flowers. Exhibitors know well the advantage 
>f being in possession of the new varieties as soon as they are obtainable, 
is improvements in any section always score a point or two more than 
nferior sorts. Even to those who do not make exhibiting a feature the 
ntroduction of a new variety is of interest. My notes here may not 
ilways agree with the description iu catalogues. I base my opinion on 
ffie flowers as seen. . 
Incurved Varieties. —These have received but few additions; 
these seem to come so sparingly that any really meritorious kind is sure 
of a welcome. Last year we had a number of French-raised seedlings, 
some of which were sufficiently meritorious as to find a prominent place 
in this season’s exhibitions, notably Madame Darier. Of this I formed 
a high estimate last year, and it has fully come up to expectations. 
More than once it has been adjudged the highest honours as the premier 
bloom in the show, which says a good deal for its quality, as it belongs- 
to the medium sized rather than to the huge flowered sorts. Well 
developed blooms possess the three points most essential in an incurved 
bloom—depth, solidity and smoothness of floret. For that reason 
Madame Darier will long find a place in the lists of exhibition varieties. 
M. R. Bahuant .—This has been shown very mften, sometimes in 
good condition, but never in the highest order of merit. The florets are 
too broad to admit of their forming a really neat and shapely b oom. 
Its depth and solidity are not in proportion to its breadth. The back¬ 
ward season has been favourable to this variety, which is naturally 
early in opening its blooms ; hence its appearance so often. m the 
stands. I have been told more than once that I am • down on this 
incurved, but it does not come up to my ideal of an incurved bloom 
such as Lord Alcester or any of the “ Queen ” family, from which 
is supposed to be a seedling. ,_ 
Madame Pierre Louis Blancard. —I would caution exhibitors to be 
careful in staging this variety in company with Princess of Wales late 
in the season. Badly coloured blooms of the latter are much like this 
newer variety, and if placed before judges who are not conversant with 
the form of this French variety, might deem it necessary to disqualify, 
although they would be wrong. It is not wise to run such a risk, and 
I mention this to avoid an error of that description. Properly coloured 
blooms of both sorts are distinct, but it is not a.ways that all varieties 
can be so presented. ... , .,. T . 
Mrs. Robinson Kina.—I fear we have no variety to equal this, it 
has however, not been seen in such good order generally as one might 
have expected, but that is accounted for by the fact of it not being a, 
good“ Queen” year; moreover, as this variety was so hard propagated last 
spring to meet the large demand, I did not expect to see it take such a 
high position as it will do in the future. . . . ... 
Robert Petfield.— Perhaps this is the best of the new varieties in this 
section It is a full solid flower, the petals especially firm, and 
slightly pointed at the tips. The colour is lilac with faint purple 
stripes. A promising sort, undoubtedly, as a middle row bloom. I do 
not know its origin, but it is being sent out by Mr. R. Owen. 
Lucv Kendall.— This is another of Mr. Owens introductions, and 
belongs to the Princess of Wales family, I should say possibly a sport 
from Violet Tomlin, which it much favours in appearance, the ground 
