288 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ September 29, 1892. 
kind. It is a very prettily striped early Apple and a capital bearer, 
but as grown here not good enough for dessert, and for cooking has to 
compete with others of the same season and superior to it in size. 
Ecklinville Seedling is one of the most certain croppers we have, and 
on the Paradise stock produces very fine fruit. Lane’s Prince Albert, 
another excellent cropper, the fruit clean and keeping a long time, is 
one of the very best. Stirling Castle is another of great merit. It is an 
abundant cropper, and the fruit is smooth, clean, and good. The last 
three and Potts’s Seedling are four of the best and most reliable cooking 
sorts grown for garden culture; Lord Grosvenor and Lord Derby 
may be added to make up the half dozen.— F. Boyes. 
Notes on the Early Varieties. 
(Concluded from page 265.) 
I will now leave the historical and descriptive side of my subject 
and turn to practical matters. First comes propagation. In this as in 
other phases of culture the same method is not practised by all 
cultivators. In looking through some back volumes of the Journal of 
Horticulture the other day I came across a small paragraph on the 
subject, in which a mode of propagation is recommended which, what¬ 
ever may be its merits otherwise, has certainly to my fancy reached the 
acme of simplicity. In the issue for March 29th, 1888, page 265, Mr. J. 
Muir, Margam Park, writes :—“ In my opinion these are the most useful 
plants in the flower garden. They are hardy and so easily managed 
that any novice may succeed with them. They flower freely in all 
situations. They grow well in towns under the direct influence of 
smoke, exposed to the sea breezes, under the shade of trees, and in 
positions where flowers do not generally succeed. These Chrys¬ 
anthemums prove gay and attractive under all circumstances. They 
begin flowering about the end of June and continue to do so until frost 
destroys them. When we had our first plants we propagated them in 
heat in spring, but when once the plants were established in the open we 
ceased to propagate indoors, and novv allow the plants and roots to remain 
in the ground all the winter, lifting them in April, dividing them into 
small pieces with a root attached to each, and replanting. This is our 
practice when we wish to increase them. If not they are allowed to 
remain in the same positions.” 
There is no doubt the above simple method answers verv well in 
the locality where Mr. Muir is happily placed, the fertile Vale of 
Lrlamorgan, where the cold winds and frosts of winter are tempered by 
the warm breezes from the Bristol Channel. He may undoubtedly safelv 
leave out his whole stock in the open ground all the winter, but in 
Leicestershire, had we tried the same course during either of the last 
two winters, we should certainly have found it necessary to start with 
an entirely new stock in the spring. As a general rule to follow none is 
better than that recommended by a large cultivator as follows :_“ They 
are best taken as cuttings from plants that have been wintered in 
cold frames early in February. After they have been potted off and 
have commenced to grow they should be stopped. After this they will 
branch freely, and it is best not to stop them any further. They should 
be planted out in April.” 
If large bushy plants are desired cuttings should be taken in 
December of the Pompon varieties, and in November of Madame 
Desgranges and its sports. These are potted singly in large 60’s in 
December or January, and stopped, as above stated,‘a week afterwards 
About the end of February or early in March they will require a shift 
into 48’s, and a second pinching or stopping should be given a week 
afterwards, planting them out in April. Plants so treated will be strong 
and well established at the time of planting, growing with vigour as 
soon as planted, and flowering well at their proper season. Growers for 
market, however, usually prefer the shortest course, and thus the plan 
of propagating in February commends itself to them, not only on 
account of the much shorter time and less labour taken up, but also on 
account of the smaller amount of space occupied, this being very valuable 
in houses and frames during February. When propagated in February 
one shift only into 60’s is required, and from these they are planted out. 
After planting see that the hoe is frequently used amongst the plants' 
not only to destroy weeds, but to promote rapid growth. 
If the plants are to be lifted especially for potting care must be 
observed not to allow' them to become too far advanced ere it is done. 
The best time, the plants suffering least, and recovering most quickly 
from the effects of the operation, is as soon as the buds are formed, and 
are as large as peas. Life them carefully, pot them quickly in light rich 
soil, water them, and place them for a few days in moist shady quarters 
such as on the floor of a greenhouse immediately under the side stages’ 
so that they are shaded from sunshine. Syringe them twice daily- 
morning and evening—thus keeping them moist, cool, and shaded. 
These conditions should suffice to prevent them flagging, and in little 
more than a week they will bear full exposure to light and air. When 
the plants are grown for the production of flowers for cutting only it is 
oetter not to pot them, but to lift them with as large balls as can be 
secured, and pack them moderately closely together on the floor of a 
cold frame, or on the stages of a greenhouse, covering the roots with 
fresh soil as the work proceeds. I have used for this purpose a house 
where early Cucumbers have been grow r n, simply pulling up the 
Cucumber plants and using the soil in which they had been growing 
for covering the Chrysanthemum roots. Excellent flow'ers may also be 
obtained by leaving the plants out in the open garden, and placing 
frame lights over them to protect the flowers from frost and rain. 
In average seasons large quantities of most useful flowers may be cut 
from the plants in the open garden without any protection whatever, 
and during the time I was at Oakbrook I made a point each season of 
having a large bed especially for this purpose. A few words will suffice 
to explain the most profitable method of doing it. A considerable 
portion of the plan’s which have been flowered in pots should be cut 
down after their flowering season is over and placed in cold frames— 
firstly, for supplying what cuttings are required, as before mentioned ; 
and secondly, for planting out to furnish flow'ers for cutting from the 
open ground. They should be kept in the cold frames until early in 
March, when they may be placed outside under a south wall, turning 
them out of the pots and planting them on good ground 2 feet apart 
early in April. They should not be stopped, but be allowed to produce 
all their growths freely and unchecked from the first. They will thus 
make large dense bushes, coming into flower earlier than the younger 
plants, and in a favourable season producing an astonishing quantity of 
useful flowers throughout September and October. After the flowers 
are gone they should be destroyed, and a fresh lot of one-year-old stools 
be planted annually in April. 
The small-flow’ered or Pompon varieties of summer-floweriDg Chrys¬ 
anthemum do not. as a rule, succeed well if cultivated in pots through¬ 
out the season. I have in past years tried them fairly and well on more 
than one occasion, but have invariably found that those cultivated in 
pots were much inferior to those which had been planted out. The 
larger flowering varieties, however, such as Madame Desgranges and its 
family, are frequently grown in pots throughout, and under good culti¬ 
vation they will give better results in this manner than if planted out. 
For this purpose the cuttings should betaken early in November, and the 
plants be grow'n on the shelf of a cool house through the wunter, shifting 
them as required, and stopping them twice, as mentioned before. That 
useful variety, Grace Attick, is also, I find, best kept in pots throughout. 
It grows freely and vigorously when planted out, but bears lifting very 
badly, the result, as a rule, being that most of the flower buds perish or 
fail to open satisfactorily. 
I will conclude by giving short lists of varieties most suited for the 
various purposes for which these early flowering Chrysanthemums are 
cultivated. The following are suitable for lifting and potting, either 
for market purposes or home decoration :—Whites : Mdme. Desgranges, 
Mdlle. Jolivart, P. Radaelli, Mrs. Cullingford, and Nanum. Yellows : 
Flcra, Mrs. Hawkins, G. Wermig, Mrs. Burrell, Golden Shah, and 
A. Crepey. Purple, Bed, and Pink : Salter’s Early Blush, Blushing 
Bride, Alice Butcher, Miss Davis, Fred Pel<5, and Lyon. 
The following are suitable for producing cut flowers when lifted and 
packed together in frames or houses but not potted :—Whites : Mdme. 
Desgranges, Mrs. Cullingford, Mdile. Jolivart, Sceur Melanie, and La 
Yierge. Yellows : Mrs. Hawkins, G. Wermig, Flora, Fiberta, and 
Ptecocite. Purple, Red, and Pink : Alice Butcher, Miss Davis, Mr. W. 
Piercy, Lyon, Mdme. Foucher de Cariel, Mdme. Piccol, and Roi des 
Precoces. The last-named, however, can scarcely be termed summer 
flowering. 
The following are good for outdoor decoration and for cut flowers as 
grown in the open airWhites : Nanum, Mdme. Desgranges, Mdlle. 
Jolivart, and Mrs. Cullingford. Tellows : All the Desgranges sports, 
Fiberta, Flora, Pr6cocit6, and Golden Shah. Purples, Reds, and Pink : 
Alice Butcher, Miss Davis, Fred P£le, Lyon, Mdme. Piccol aDd its sport, 
Mr. W. Piercy. F 
The following are good for pot cultivation throughout All the 
Desgranges family, Mdme. Foucher de Cariel, Grace Attick, and Mrs. 
J. R. Pitcher.— W. K. Woodcock. 
FRUITS AND FLOWERS AT THE WORLD’S FAIR. 
The horticultural display at the Chicago World’s Fair will, we are 
told, be bewildering in extent and marvellous in beauty. The exhibit 
will possess great scientific and educational value, but to the ordinary 
visitor its ornamental features will be the most striking. Indeed, it will 
play an important part in the adornment of the great Exhibition. 
While in almost every part of the grounds may be seen gratifying 
evidences of the very efficient work of the Horticultural Department, 
the central point of interest will naturally be in the exhibit in the 
horticultural building. This structure is 998 feet long and has an 
extreme width of 250 feet. Its plan is a central pavilion with two end 
pavilions, each connected with it by front and rear curtains, forming 
two interior courts, each 88 by 270 feet. Surmounting the central 
pavilion is a beautifully proportioned dome, 187 feet in diameter and 
113 feet high. 
Vines and Wines. 
In the south pavilion of the building will be installed the viticultural 
exhibit, embracing all varieties of wine and everything pertaining to its 
manufacture. An idea of how complete this part of the exhibit will be 
can be gained from the fact that applications for space have already 
been received from thirty-three foreign countries. From abroad the 
