September 19, 188S ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
213 
the meeting closed with the usual votes of thanks to the readers of 
the papers and the chairman. 
EARLY-FLOWERING CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 
[ liy W. Plercy, Forest Hill, S.E. Read at the National Chrysanthemum Society’s Con¬ 
ference, September 11th, 1889.] 
For some years before 1876 I was growing Chrysanthemums in the 
open garden, and I found that very generally just as they were coming 
into bloom the frost came and spoilt the flowers, often in a single night. 
I observed that one plant bL om id in October. This was the old sort 
Orin Drin, which set me thinking if it was not possible to have a race 
of early sorts. I found that very little vras known of varieties blooming 
before November, but in the Gardeners' 3fagazine of November 11th, 
1876, a letter appeared from the Rev. F. Freeman, now of Wickersley 
Rectory, Rotherham, Yorkshire, from which it was evident that he was 
on the same track as myself. In the issue of the same paper for 
December 2nd, 1876, there was a communication from the late Henry 
Taylor, giving a list of thirteen sorts blooming before the end of October. 
These two communications made me sure that it was possible in England 
to have Chrysanthemums in bloom in the open before the frost came, 
and the hunt began. I soon found that Mr. Watson, then of the Marl¬ 
borough Nursery, Islington, London, grew these plants in large quanti¬ 
ties in small pots for trade purposes, but that he had few if any sorts 
beyond those in Mr. IT. Taylor’s list, which did not include Nanum (the 
Sistou of the French). This came to me in 1877 from the Pine Apple 
Nursery in the Edgware Road, LondoD, with the name Nanum. In 
1877, also, I procured Madame Picol, or Piccol, sometimes spelt 
Pecoul, I do not^ know which is right. I mention these, not because 
they were the only varieties, but that they are still two of the best in 
their respective lines of colour. Madame Piccol has since produced a 
red sport, which is called Mr. Piercy, because it first sported at my 
place. I do not know who raised either of them, but that they came 
from T ranee there can be little doubt. Some were probably known and 
grown as early as 1817, for the London Horticultural Society offered a 
medal for early-flowering Chrysanthemums in that year, but I do not 
know with what results. Mr. Broome’s little book, published in 1858, 
mentions thirteen sorts. Among these were Scarlet Gem, since called 
Little Bob, its proper name being Dr. Bois Duval, and Frederic Peld, 
which seems to have preserved its French name all through until now. 
These two are still grown, and F. Peld is even now the best in its line 
for many purposes, but Dr. Bois Duval, although a fine colour and doing 
well in some places, is a very weak plant and difficult to keep in winter. 
Mr. Salter, in his book published in 1865, give a list of fifteen sorts, but 
I do not know whether Illustration was in either of those lists. This 
was one of the best old sorts, being hardy, robust, of good habit, dwarf, 
and free-flowering. It has had many names and several sports, and for 
a considerable time was the principal variety grown. Its proper name 
is Marie Longarre, as I imported it from France so-called. It is still 
grown by some and is good tor rough culture and common flowers. The 
first I know about it is that it was procured by Mr. Watson of Islington 
from a churchyard at the West End of London in 18C9, and it was the 
first sort he had. Precocity is another old sort still grown for large 
quantities of cheap yellow cut flowers, and holds its position because 
it is robust in the open ground, and owing to a slight incurve of the 
flowers packs and stands carriage well in large bunches. I knew 
nothing of this before 1877. A few years previous to this most people 
seemed to know nothing about early-flowering Chrysanthemums ; others 
said they were quite common, but some of the latter w r ere such that if 
you were to show them a bit of the North Pole would say they had seen 
plenty of that before. 
Early in 1878 the late Mr. Helman of Croutes, Guernsey, sent me 
some cuttings without name, which he did not know, and could not 
find out, sp I named it after that place, Saint Croutes. It turned 
out to be identical with the one found by the Rev. F. Freeman at 
Saddington Rectory, Leicestershire, hence called by him Saddington, 
but found afterwards by importation from France to be Pollion. It 
is still the best in its line, not in its original colour, pink, but white, 
to which it sported a few years after at Tooting, Surrey. 
It must ever be borne in mind that the qualities desirable, and 
stamping many of these sorts as good and best, are quite different 
from those of the late sorts and those to win prizes at shows, with 
the exception of such as Madame C. Desgrange and Ldoni Lassali. 
They are not fit for the long stick with a flower or two at the top 
sort of plant, or those monstrosities which look like a kind of illus¬ 
trated loo table, both of which shapes no Chrysanthemum, either early 
or late, ever grow in naturally. 
I/' The most striking point to advance in general estimation these 
early sorts, and to silence objectors and stir up indifference, was the 
discovery in the summer of 1879 of Madame Castex Desgrange by Mr. 
Robert Parker, at that time of the Exotic Nursery, Tooting, Surrey. 
This was found by him in a lady’s garden in Wales. On March 15th, 
1880, he gave me two little plants of it, and from those two little 
plants and his stock the bulk of those now in cultivation have come. 
As is customary, as soon as this variety became known we had the cry 
common in such cases that it was known before. Old French catalogues 
were found in which there was the name, but no one had seen the plant. 
Others said they had it, but I did not find they had the stock. It 
was in the lists of M. Lemoine and M. Crousse of Nancy, France, of 
March, 1881, but I expect they had it from England the year before, or 
raked it up from some place in France, for we had heard nothing of it 
from them before March, 1881. Lemoine says it was raised by Bou- 
charlat. Crousse spells it Desgranges. However, it was then, and is 
now, the very best early Japanese, either in its white and yellow colour, 
and its primrose sport called Mrs. Burrell. It was a curious thing that 
the very next summer that we heard of the first yellow sport of Madame 
C. Desgrange I found it had sported in six places the same colour. This 
is one of the curious aspects of sports that after a plant has been grown 
a number of years from the seed, it sometimes the same year or year 
after sports in a second or more places, just in the same way that we 
have three sports of Mdlle. Lacroix in three places in 1888 ; other sorts 
never sport at all, as in the case of Nanum, although it is now old. I 
have known it since 1877, and it has been grown in all sorts of places 
and in large quantities for cut flowers, never varying in the least, but 
being neither better nor worse than the first year grown. 
At the end of 1881 we received from M. Lemoine, of Nancy, France, 
Lyon, which is one of the best Pompons of the early kinds we have ever 
had or have. Its faults are its delicacy in winter and spareness of 
cuttings, but in all other respects it is first-class. I have counted 434 
florets in a bloom. It is now to a great extent superseded by its red 
sport, Alice Butcher, which is in every respect the same except colour, 
and reds are much more scarce, also much more liked by the ladies, who 
are great factors in the cut flower trade ; besides, the original colour 
much resembles Blushing Bride. At the end of 1881, too, we received 
also from M. Lemoine, Mdlle. Jolivart. This is still one of the most 
beautiful and useful Pompons we have. I have not found anything to 
surpass it in all its good qualities. It has never sported, being white as 
at first. It was in 1881 that we also received for the first time La 
Yierge, a white October bloomer. I denominate all that bloom up to the 
end of September early, and those that bloom in October semi-early, 
which terms are about equal to the French Frecoce and Hative. 
In 1883 we first discovered the merits of a new sort imported from 
France by Mr. Ware, of the Hale Farm Nurseries, Tottenham, London. 
It was called Late Flora, but why it was so designated we know not, for 
it is very early, and the best yellow Pompon in its line. It is a reflexed 
yellow flower, and blooms for months together, commencing in August. 
We have dropped the Late, and now call it Flora, but there are two more 
Floras, late ones. 
It was not till 1885 that we found the one we named Blushing Bride. 
It was among a lot of wrongly named old sorts and rubbish imported 
from France by Mr. Davis, of the Lilford Road, Camberwell, London, 
and is believed to have been raised by some amateur. This is still the 
very best in its line, and will bloom twice in one season. In 1886 Mr. 
T. S. Ware imported from M. Pertuzes, of Toulouse, the raiser, Leoni 
Lassali, which was of an entirely new type among the early sorts, being 
a large ivory-white flower of a semi-incurved character. It is very 
beautiful in many respects, not so profuse a bloomer as some, but that 
is made up for by the beauty and size of the flowers. It blooms in 
August, and stands alone, being a large-flowered sort, not Japanese. 
Grace Attick is the last grand new sort entirely distinct that we 
have received. I believe it was raised in New York by Mr. John Thorpe, 
and imported by Mr. Cannel 1 , of Swanley, Kent, in 1887. It is a quite 
new type of Japanese, a white large flower on a dwarf plant. The very 
earliest of all Chrysanthemums blooming a month earlier than Nanum, 
and coming out at the very brginning of May, under glass, of course. 
I believe that this plant will be largely grown, and should we be able to 
seed it in England, or in some other climate, it will probably be the 
origin of an entirely new branch of the early blooming sorts. It is very 
dwarf and bushy, a good grower in summer, but weak and very liable to 
mould off in propagating in spring, with a disposition to bloom itself to 
death in summer. 
The great uses of these plants are to decorate gardens in the open, 
even in the north of Britain, where the late kinds would he destroyed 
by the frost, and to fill the gap in the season between the summer 
flowers and the November Chrysanthemums. Their dwarf and busby 
hahit fits them very much for pot plants for decoration and sale as such, 
while their capacity to supply cut flowers is unbounded. Considering 
the labour and expense, as well as their durability in a cut state in 
water, they are perhaps the cheapest and most effective flowers grown. 
Besides, there is one great point more in their favour, they will grow and 
flourish in the smoky and dirty air of towns and suburbs, where few 
plants will flourish, and where no Rose will live and bloom. 
As to the progress in future the aspects are most promising. Years 
ago I began to grow seedlings. My first grew very well, and when 
flowering time came they were still growing into plants of vast size, but 
no sign of bloom appeared. I then heard, “ Oh, they do not bloom the 
first season.” So I saved them till the next year, when their size was 
magnificent ; but the bloom, when it came, was such that we threw 
them all away at once. Subsequent seedlings were no better. These 
were all from foreign trade seed. I then began to look around, and on 
the railway slopes at the back of my ground saw the wild English 
Chrysanthemum leucanthemum, the Ox-eye or Dog Daisy, in bloom in 
May ; so I thought to double that, but it was no good—all the seedlings 
came exactly like the parent, in every way so very different in that 
respect from the seedlings of the other Chrysanthemums, which I then 
attributed to the foreign seed being from mixed plants. I could get i o 
seed from the really early sorts till Mr. John Thorpe sent me a small 
packet of early seed from New York in 1885, from which I raised over 
100 plants, among which there was only one really good early variety, 
which I named Pierey’s Seedling. This was my first real success in 
raising new kinds, for it is really good ; but I wished to raise my own 
seed, so that I should know what I was doing. I tried in vain. I sent 
plants to Mr. Laxton, the seed grower of Bedford, on hot sandy soil 
