December 12 , 1889. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
50b 
Wreaths and Stands of Chrysanthemums. 
The accompanying illustration, sketched by our artist at the recent 
■Exhibition of floral decorations in St. Stephen’s Hall, Westminster, 
what of the same shade as Elsie, but lacking its attractiveness. Another 
season I hope to be able to give these a better position than in the past. 
La Vierge should be grown in every collection, and very neat is the 
dwarf yellow La Petite Marie.—B. 
fig. 63.—A wreath of chrysanthemums. 
affords some idea of what can be effected by a tasteful disposal of 
■Chrysanthemum flowers with Grasses and appropriate foliage. Japanese 
varieties, orange or red, look well alone or in combination with white 
varieties for this work, especially under artificial light. 
Useful Chrysanthemums. 
These, it must be noted, are for decoration and cut flower purposes. 
Some of them, doubtless, have been recommended in times past, but as 
there are always new readers, as well as some with new wants, I have 
no doubt they may be of use. I think the best of all is Elsie, a straw 
■coloured reflexed Japanese variety, the only fault of which being its 
somewhat tall habit of growth. This is sure to be one of the most 
generally grown when it is better known. Mrs. G. Stevens is a small 
leaved good habited sort not unlike in the appearance of its bloom that 
indispensable sort Soeur Malanie, only the flowers are one-fourth larger, 
and what is termed old gold as regards colour. It is well worth growing. 
Reverie is now comparatively old, but it is still one of the best decora¬ 
tive varieties, with a close upright though free branching habit of 
.growth with beautiful foliage, flowers of good size, and a takiug shade 
of red, and much better than M. J. Laing. 
M. W. Holmes is even better than the above, but as it is earlier the 
two sorts require to be grown. Earlier than the above is Roi des 
•Pr^coces, which we have grown for several years. It seems to be com¬ 
paratively neglected, though one of the very best of the bright coloured 
sorts. A new sort is Capucine, of a pleasing orange shade and very dwarf 
•habit. Bettina is also new, of much the same shade as Source d’Or, 
but of much dwarfer habit than that really good old sort. When the 
■terminal buds are taken Val d’Andorre may be had comparatively late, 
.and is most useful. King of the Crimsons is also good, and comes in 
earlier than the above. Dr. Sharpe when first open is a’so fine. Of 
yellow varieties Mrs. Dixon and Mr. Glenny are still among the very 
best. There is no difficulty in securing three to five dozen fine blooms 
■on each of these, and if the buds are left unthinned the number is very 
great. Chevalier Domage is also good, Phoebus excellent, and Peter 
the Great when well thinned has not as yet been excelled. Alice Bird 
is a light shade, but not, I think, so good as some others. 
Among white varieties are Mrs. Bundle, extra fine ; Elaine, perhaps 
the best; Mdlle. Lacroix, very good ; Jeanne d’Arc, good when well 
:grown ; Condor I expect will prove one of the best of the medium late 
varieties ; Mrs. Forsyth, dwarf, free, and good ; Felicity, also good. All 
these sorts give much better returns than does the cultivation of a large 
number of varieties, keeping in view, of course, the supply of a large 
^quantity of good flowers from a limited number of plants. 
Of outdoor sorts not one has as yet surpassed Pr6cocitd for a good 
yellow, early, and continuous in flowering. Fred. Pele is the best of 
the darks, and Madame Desgrange of the whites. The newer varie¬ 
ties have not given the satisfaction I expected. Leoni Lassali is some- 
FUNGUS ON PEACHES. 
You were kind enough to measui’e the Peaches I posted to you 
a short time since and to speak approvingly of them. As I then 
stated, they were gathered from large newly planted trees which 
had the three previous seasons been attacked with fungus, thereby 
causing the fruit to be useless. I will give for the benefit of your 
readers who may be placed in such a position as I was a full de¬ 
scription of the treatment which proved so satisfactory. I know of 
two places in this neighbourhood where Peaches are grown largely, 
and the gardeners are trying to eradicate this same destructive 
disease, but up to the present their efforts have proved fruitless. 
I hope they are diligent readers of this valuable Journal, so that 
they may follow my practice and reap the same beneficial results. 
I have two houses in which the trees have been attacked with 
this fungus. One, which I will call the large house, is GO feet by 
12 feet, and the small one is 40 feet by 12 feet ; they are lean-to’s 
and face due south The trees are trained on the back wall, and 
there are two rows of pyramids in pots along the front. The 
trees in the large house were on the wall before the house was 
built, but I have never heard of any disease attacking them 
previous to the house being placed over them. In the small house 
the trees were all fresh planted, and those in pots obtained from a 
nursery. I mention these facts so as to make the case as clear as 
possible. I must necessarily give a rather long account, for I have 
had to battle against this disease for three years. I may also state 
I have sent leaves, fruit branches, and roots to some of the leading 
fruit growers of the day, and have also had them come to see and 
give their opinion on the whole matter, but not one of them sug¬ 
gested that a fungus was the origin of the evil. Some of them 
were confident it was at the roots, while others were equally as 
FIG. 64.-A STAND OF CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 
confident it was a scald by the sun’s rays early in the morning 
before air was admitted. 
