134 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
February 15,18C4 
varieties of that date only one (Boule d’Or) has any real standing with 
growers of to-day. Shall we ten years hence have to put aside the 
leading varieties of 1894 ? It seems hardly credible, but still possible, 
at the rate novelties are introduced.—W. H. Lees. 
Chrysanthemums in New Zealand. 
Most of the readers of the Journal are aware of the interest that is 
now being taken in the Chrysanthemum in this Colony, and that seed¬ 
lings are being raised there from seed saved by the colonial growers. 
Most of them prefer their own to the imported article. Plants of most 
of the new varieties grown here are regularly introduced into the 
Colony, but I did not know until the other day that any attempt had 
been made to secure plants from Japan. A correspondent, however, 
from Christchurch, relates in a recent letter that a gentleman residing in 
the neighbourhood has endeavoured to introduce a collection of twenty- 
eight varieties from Japan, but that they arrived, unfortunately, quite 
dead. A fortnight ago a well known grower called upon me and said 
he had received a consignment of new varieties from Wellington, 
N,Z., but with a like result. It is to be hoped that some means may 
be discovered by which Chrysanthemums can be sent such long 
distances to arrive in a tolerably healthy condition.—P. 
Chrysanthemum Mrs. A. Hardy. 
This is a splendid variety and worthy of careful cultivation, but if 
the voters in the recent Chrysanthemum election had named it as one 
for beginners to grow they would have misled the public. It is a good 
sort to cultivate when its requirements are fairly well understood, but its 
treatment must differ somewhat from that of the general collection. 
When recently residing in the immediate neighbourhood ot Bourne¬ 
mouth I grew this variety fairly well. The first season I failed to make 
the plant grow and lost it, but I tried again, and during the following 
three seasons succeeded in obtaining blooms averaging 6 inches in 
diameter and 4 inches deep. The flowers v/ere very sweet-scented, pure 
white, and covered with hairs. 
My treatment was as follows. First I procured strong cuttings and 
inserted them in good loam and leaf soil in equal parts with an abundance 
of sand. The plants were grown with the general collection till the time 
of placing them out of doors, when this particular variety was taken into 
a cool greenhouse, and kept there during the remainder of the season. 
On April Ist the tops were taken off each plant, and two shoots from 
each grown. The first bud resulting from these was secured. This bud 
generally showed about August 10th The same compost throughout 
was used ; no manure or feeding in any form was given, only clear water. 
I consider that the Joumal of Ilorticulhire has been the medium of 
giving new interest in the cultivation of the Chrysanthemum, and the 
thanks of many people will be accorded the Editor, Mr. Molyneux, and 
the able band of helpers.— Geo. Garner. 
The Japanese Chrysanthemum Election. 
I think that it is difficult to over-estimate the value of the selections 
which have appeared in your columns, not only to the less experienced 
exhibitors, but, also, as Mr. C. Orchard (page 112) points out, to provincial 
growers and others who have not the opportunity of seeing the latest 
novelties when first brought out. Each year brings us, in ever-increasing 
numbers, new varieties, many of which are designed to supplant those 
now regarded as essential to the exhibitor. In what direction is he 
then to seek a reliable guide in the matter of selection 1 A very small 
experience must suffice to convey the conviction that the glowing trade 
descriptions must be received cum (iraiio salin. No, these trade catalogues 
with their numberless “ best varieties in existence,” simply perplex and 
bewilder us= Then there is the certificate of the National Chrysan¬ 
themum Society. Can these certificates be accepted as a safe guide ? 
Let the answer be supplied by an analysis of actual results. There 
were twenty-two Japanese varieties certificated in 1891. Of these 
eleven, or exactly half, did not receive more than one vote in Mr. 
Molyneux’s list ; and of this eleven no less than nine did not appear 
at all in the ninety-three varieties noticed. Taking 1892, there were 
twenty-seven certificated ; or, to be strictly accurate, twenty-six, for 
the variety W. A. Manda appears to have so bewitched the Floral 
Committee, that if the official reports of the N.CS. be accepted as 
correct, the Committee certificated it twice over ; in 1891, and again in 
18<)2. Well, of this twenty-six, no less than thirteen do not appear at 
all in the ninety-three, and two receive only a single vote : fifteen out 
of twenty-six. Again, taking both lists (Mr. Molyneux’s and Mr. 
Mawley’s) no less than twenty-one of the varieties certificated by the 
N.C.S. in 1891 and 1892 do not appear in either of them. That the 
explanation does not lie in the fact that the varieties in question have 
been but recently introduced is plain, for some of the very latest 
of them, W. Seward, R. Owen, and Miss Dorothea Shea, get into the 
final “ twenty-four.” Nor can it avail as a retort that the large 
majority, if not all of the “twenty-four” have been certificated, for 
the adverse suggestion arising from the above statistics is not that 
intrinsically good varieties are affected by the certificate, but that bad 
ones get it. The former would make their mark without it ; the latter, 
with it, only serve to mislead the exhibitor. The experience of actual 
results proves, therefore, that if the exhibitor were to take the certificate 
of the N.C.S. as his guide he would but court disaster at the show table. 
We have next Mr. Mawley’s annual audit founded on the exhibits at 
the N.C.S.’s shows. These are very interesting historically, but they 
have two faults. Firstly, the audit is not confined to the winning 
stands, and secondly, the modification of the latest results by the 
adoption of a system of retrospective averages allows a variety which in 
the past, for some special reason, had a certain value, long since lost, 
to retain a position in the list wholly at variance with its present value. 
For instance, M. Bernard, shown four times in 1893, is still kept as high 
as eleventh in the list, and Jeanne Delaux, shown nine times, eighteenth, 
both far in advance of W. Seward, Lord Brooke, and Miss Dorothea 
Shea, all in Mr. Molyneux’s twenty-four, while it is needless to say 
that Jeanne Delaux does not appear in the ninety-three. R. Owen in 
the ideal twelve does not even appear in Mr. Mawley’s sixty-two. 
Interesting, but insufficient as a guide for present day purposes, must be 
the verdict, and no comparative cheapness of cuttings can avail to bring 
adequate compensation to the exhibitor. 
I think that the foregoing survey of the position of the exhibitor of 
to-day brings out most clearly the practical value of the selections 
Fia. 21 ,—mutisia clematis. 
compiled by Mr. Molyneux, and I venture to say that if these selections 
are continued annually, and are made as soon as conveniently practicable 
after the November shows, a standard of selection will be created which 
will be eagerly looked for, and accepted, by the entire Chrysanthemum 
exhibiting community.— Amateur, 
MUTISIA CLEMATIS. 
This is an ornamental plant, the long tubular bright red flower 
heads drooping from the slender climbing stems supported by neat 
pinnate and tendril-terminated leaves having a graceful appearance 
in suitable situations. It succeeds very well in a greenhouse trained 
to a pillar or short rafter, but the plant requires a position where 
it can be readily seen. It can be planted out or grown in pots, a 
compost of loam, peat, and sand suiting it well, with plenty of water 
when in growth, and a well marked period of rest subsequently. 
Fig. 21 represents a bloom of this beautiful, though seldom giowa 
plant. 
