December 31, 1891. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
559 
they have done so well and are so much dwarfer than others 
left to grow unchecked, that more will be cut over another 
season. Most of our plants are disbudded, leaving one bud to 
each shoot, and in some cases weakly side growths, which can 
be seen to be unequal to the production of good flowers, are also 
removed. 
Chrysanthemum flowers lend themselves with the best effect to 
all kinds of decorative purposes. Large blooms are excellent for 
“ table work.” These, also, when cut with long stems and set 
up a very few in large vases, are most beautiful. If any lack of 
furnishing is apparent in the portion which springs immediately 
above the glass, a few smaller blooms on shorter stems may be 
added with good effect. For the medium sizes of glasses employed 
in large apartments ordinary well-grown blooms will be suitable, 
and nothing is necessary in the way of foliage in any case save that 
on the stems as cut. Overcrowding, or indeed crowding in any 
form, is to be avoided. 
As to the varieties best suited for the purpose under discussion 
they need not be many. At the same time it would be unwise to 
be too exclusive, as in addition to the colour we have now so many 
beautifully constructed flowers that variety in this respect is 
valuable. There is also the matter of a lengthened season to 
consider, for without trenching much on the few varieties suitable 
for cut flowers which bloom in summer and autumn in the open 
border there ought to be a good supply in pots from October until 
the end of January, a period of five months, when flowers are not 
too plentiful. One year I had flowers all the year round, but they 
axe of doubtful utility at any other than the period just mentioned. 
Like some other flowers, Chrysanthemums in some seasons bloom 
quite out of their ordinary course ; as, for instance, last year we 
had Lady Selborne in flower at Christmas, and Mdlle. Lacroix even 
later, but as a rule the various sorts can be relied upon with 
tolerable exactitude. 
The earliest plants should include the Madame Desgrange 
family and the new A. Crepey. Roi des Precoces has for several 
years held a prominent position. This should not be disbudded, 
and requires cutting when first open, as, like so many crimson 
tinted sorts, it rapidly becomes dull when kept. It is a very useful 
sort. Souvenir de M. Menier, which appears to be a much 
improved L’Africaine, is worthy of commendation as an early 
dark flower. M. Hilliot is exceedingly good, bright chestnut red, 
and a beautifully formed flower. Madame C. Foucher de Careil is 
an early Source d’Or, deep orange, and good. Lady Selborne is still 
indispensable, and must not be disbudded. Where few sorts are 
grown this should find a place, as it keeps so well. Elsie is also very 
good. We now arrive at the general blooming period, and among 
these the following will be found among the best to grow :—Fairy 
Queen, a beautiful variety ; W. Holmes, to be cut as soon as 
open ; Amy Furze, one of the best of the pink shade ; Maiden’s 
Blush, La Triomphante, Janira, a fine crimsoned tinted purple ; 
Soeur Melanie, fine when well grown ; Reverie ; Source d’Or, one of 
the most beautiful; Phoebus, very good ; Mrs. Stevens and W. 
Stevens, both fine, old gold ; Gluck, Alice Bird, Gorgeous, Mrs. 
Dixon, Mr. G. Glenny, and Lord Alcester are indispensable among 
yellows. Among the best whites are Mrs. Rundle ; Elaine, to be 
cut before full development ; Avalanche, Mdlle. Lacroix, Felicity, 
and Mrs. Forsyth. Reaching to a later period we have E. Molyneux, 
Guernsey Nugget, Condor, Peter the Great, Fair Maid of Guernsey, 
Lady Margaret, Miss A. Lowe, George Sands, Ethel, Mrs. Jones, 
L’Ebourriffee, and Yal d’Andorre. 
The only single variety grown is Miss Mary Anderson, good, 
which is a great favourite.—B. 
SCARCITY OF VIOLETS, 
I was surprised to read in the note from “ M. H.,” p. 517, that 
Marie Louise Violets in pits were not flowering so freely as usual, 
because I thought our plants were giving us more blooms and 
deeper in colour than usual, although plants in our frame are not 
doing so. These plants were lifted and planted in a spare frame 
fully two months after the principal plants were placed in their 
flowering quarters. Not having a spare frame at the time, and 
thinking we had sufficient, the plants were allowed to remain where 
they grew during the summer, not neediDg the land, hence their 
retention ; but I am glad we did utilise them, because it provides a 
lesson of how necessary it is to lift and plant early the roots in¬ 
tended to flower during the months of December and January. 
The middle of September is not too early to protect the plants 
from excessive rains, which is no trouble after the roots are placed in 
the pits or frames. I attribute our present success to this fact. 
The foliage, too, is superior to any we have previously had. I 
have heard complaints in this neighbourhood about the scarcity of 
bloom this season, but in one instance especially the plants never 
grew well enough to form desirable crowns out of doors. The poor¬ 
ness of the land in which they were planted was blamed for this 
defect; and without fully developed crowns it is useless to expect 
a full crop of bloom, no matter what the season may be. Because 
I approve of storing the roots early I do not believe in the practice 
of “coddling” them to give the plants a free growth; my only 
object is to so have them under control that heavy continuous rains 
can be warded off. No matter how cold the weather may be—• 
excepting when freezing—the lights are drawn off our Violet 
frames early in the morning and left off till dark, and when they 
are on in the case of rain they are tilted to admit of a free circula¬ 
tion of air about the plants, conditions they enjoy, judging by the 
appearance of the plants and the blooms they bear.—E. Molyneux. 
CYPRIPEDIUM CALYPSO. 
Hybrid Cypripediums now constitute a large and important 
class of Orchids, and yet fresh and distinct variations are con¬ 
tinually forthcoming, a large proportion equalling and some ex¬ 
celling those previously obtained. The hybrid of which a flower is 
depicted in fig. 101, is one of Messrs. Veitch & Sons’productions, 
FIG. 101. —CYPRIPEDIUM CALYPSO. 
and resulted from a cross between C. Spicerianum and C. villosum 
var. Boxalli, exactly the same species, but different varieties having 
been employed in the production of C. Lathamianum, raised in the 
Birmingham Botanic Gardens. C. Spicerianum has been freely 
employed by hybridisers, and it has constituted one of the parents 
of several hybrids. C. villosum has also been useful in the same 
way. 
0. Calypso shows many characters of both parents. The dorsal 
sepal has a good deal of the C. Spicerianum form and marking, 
the petals and lip being more suggestive of C. villosum. White and 
a yellowish tint with dark lines and dots furnish the chief 
colouring. 
PRUNING VINES. 
I regret that the experience of “E. M.” differs from my own 
in regard to the pruning Muscat of Alexandria, because I know him 
to be a first-rate Grape grower, having had many opportunities of 
seeing the fine produce he staged a few years ago at some of the lead¬ 
ing southern shows, and having also seen the Vines, vineries, and 
the delightful gardens he has managed so well for the last twelve 
years. Although the close-spur system has succeeded in the 
case of “ E. M.,” I am fully convinced it is not the best method 
to adopt with Muscats generally, as I have on many occasions seen 
the benefit derived by Muscats when the close-spur method of 
