55S 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ December 26, 1889. 
exhibitions where the Chrysanthemum forms the main, sometimes the 
sole feature. I remember when this excessive training was the rage for 
Azaleas, but at last people rebelled, and although they appear in fair 
numbers, yet the collections of huge extinguishers covered with bloom 
no longer attracts, but rather repels the public. 
In looking at both the incurved and Japanese cut blooms I grieve to 
find in both two great errors. First of all the running upon size. It 
pervades everything in horticulture nowadays—big Grapes, big Cauli¬ 
flowers, big Onions, &c. Nothing is valued now unless it has size ; the 
larger the better seems to be the motto of present day cultivators. But 
see what is lost. There was, for instance, that monster Etoile de Lyon 
a foot in diameter, but a coarse flower, which had indeed a good deal 
of the Etoile about it, but no beauty ; its coarseness destroyed all 
interest in it. The other error is the dressing of the flowers. I have in 
my day taken part in many a stand-up fight on this subject. I have 
deplored it in the case of the Carnation and Picotee, but I got nothing 
for my pains, and now as then the success of an exhibitor depends not so 
much on the excellence of his culture of the flowers as on the skill of 
the dresser. This is applied not only to the incurved varieties, but to 
the Japs also, especially to such flowers as Comte de Germiny and others 
of that style. I do not think that it is at all necessary to do this. I 
have blooms of Mr. H. Cannell and Mrs. H. Cannell which have never 
been touched with tweezers, and yet they fold gracefully into the 
centre, and I am quite sure if I were to attempt the dressing I should do 
more harm than good. 
I know that ail this is very much like crying in the wilderness.” 
People will go on trying to get big flowers, and spending hours over the 
manipulation of their blooms. They do not, it is true, as far as I know, 
attempt to alter the character of the flowers, not, as it were, to turn a 
cupped into an imbricated flower, and an incurved flower remains an 
incurved flower still, but immense pains are taken to hide any defect 
and to make the flower as symmetrical as possible. 
Of course when new varieties are spoken of, the first question was, 
Have you seen Mrs. Alpheus Hardy ? and a general pilgrimage took 
place to St. Stephen’s Hall, where the introducer had staged half a dozen 
blooms. In everything except size the plates and descriptions of it were 
not exaggerated. It is really a most beautiful and curious flower, 
valuable not only in itself, but as probably the forerunner of a new 
departure in Japanese. Already we are told that there is a pink variety 
of the same strange character. Whether it will ever be an exhibition 
flower depends on circumstances. It has no doubt been hurried on 
into growth for sale purposes, and like our newly introduced Roses we 
cannot tell much about it for a couple of years, but if it grows at all 
well, and the plant exhibited leads one to hope it will, it will be a 
general favourite. Of other new varieties the following were notice¬ 
able :— 
Mrs. Falconer Jameson .—Very large blooms of chestnut tinge, shaded 
with yellow, very fine. 
Avalanche .—This is a very beautiful and most useful flower, and its 
excellence was shown by the fact that all the prizes for six white 
Chrysanthemums were taken by it. It is of the purest white, large and 
well formed, the plant is vigorous, and the flowers are very freely 
produced. 
Sunflower is, as its name imports, a large bright yellow flower, very 
massive. 
Of flowers not quite so new there were good examples of Edwin 
Molyneux, Mr. H. Cannell, Mrs. H. Cannell, Mrs. J. Wright, Sarah 
Owen ; and, indeed, I suppose they have found places in most collec¬ 
tions, for the Chrysanthemum is so easily propagated that a new variety 
is not long in finding its way anywhere. 
Amongst the miscellaneous exhibits, two Pelargoniums exhibited by 
Messrs. Cannell <& Sons particularly struck me : one was Souvenir de 
Miranda, of a lovely shade of salmon and pink ; and Richard Dean, a 
dark purplish crimson. They were exhibited in that perfection which 
oven in winter he is able to attain.—D., Leal. 
Rugby Chrysanthemum Society. 
The annual meeting of this Society was held on Wednesday night, 
December 18th. L. Cumming, Esq., M.A., was unanimously elected 
Chairman for the evening. After a few introductory remarks he called 
upon the Secretary (Mr. W. Bryant) to read the Committee’s report and 
balance-sheet for the year. The report stated that the number of sub¬ 
scribers to the Society is 188, a slight increase upon the number of 
members for the preceding year ; and the balance-sheet also showed a 
rather better, although still a small, balance in the hands of the Society. 
In thanking Mr. L. Cumming for his admirable lecture upon “ The 
Reason Why in Horticulture,” the Committee hoped to obtain other 
members to help by giving lectures or reading papers, so that the pre¬ 
amble of the Society might be more fully carried out. The balance- 
sheet showed the total amount of receipts at £101 11s. 2d., and the ex¬ 
penditure at £95 12s. 8d., leaving a balance of £5 18s. Gd. upon the 
year’s work. The Secretary in a few remarks pointed out that the 
money paid in prizes and specials amounted to £54, or exactly £1 7s. 6d. 
less than the list of subscriptions, showing that to meet the expenses of 
the Society it really depended upon the door money. He then went on 
to advocate the necessity of the Committee making the prices of admis- 
tien as popular as they possibly could, and gave statistics of the number 
of persons paying at the different prices during the late two-days Show, 
which was rather interesting, as indicating that committees should pro¬ 
vide for the masses. On the first day, from one to four o’clock, the price 
being 2s. 6d., only eleven paid at door ; during the Is. time, for both 
days, 126 paid ; during the Gd. time, for both days, 748 paid ; and on 
the last evening, from six to half-past nine o’clock, the admission being 
3d., no less than 925 (or more than half the total number) paid at door ; 
the number of visitors to Show, including subscribers, being 2212. The 
Chairman then gave an interesting and instructive review of the 
Society’s work, and was followed by Messrs. T. M. Wratislaw, W. 
Phillips, and others. 
The date of Show for 1889, after a very animated discussion, was 
fixed for November 12th and 13th, many present considering it inad¬ 
visable to clash with Birmingham, a coincidence we should certainly say 
is regretable and injurious to both societies, but more especially to the 
younger one. 
GAY FLOWER BEDS IN SPRING. 
I DO not know any plant or bulb that can surpass the homely 
Crocus for effect in the early spring when cheapness and durability are 
taken into account. In starting to plant Crocuses in the flower beds 
trench the ground thoroughly, and in the process incorporate 5 or 
6 inches of good manure ; also well break up the subsoil. Do not by 
any means bring any of the crude soil to the surface. If the staple 
soil be strong incorporate sweepings of walks, burnt refuse, old potting 
soil, old mortar, or even fine coal ashes, if nothing better can be had, as 
the Crocus is rather partial to an open soil. After the beds have been 
trenched it is a good plan to fork them, to assist in working the soil' 
down more firmly ; then run over the beds after forking with the garden 
rake, to work them into form for planting, the same as would be 
done for May bedding plants. Make the rows from 1 foot to 18 inches 
apart. Plant the clumps about the same distance from each other in 
the rows. If the beds are a geometrical group corresponding beds may 
be planted with corresponding colours, the same as bedding plants. 
Self colours of Crocuses make the best show. After the lines are 
marked out for planting place ten to twenty bulbs in a clump 8 or 
9 inches deep, the bulbs half to 1 inch apart. It is well known that the 
Crocus makes a new bulb every year on the top of the old one, which 
helps to bring them nearer the surface. After planting rake the beds,- 
then apply some short decayed manure, and bury it with the spade 
1 or 2 inches deep. Some people might think that they would never see 
their Crocuses again after planting so deeply, but if the ground be in 
good order the grass or leaves of Crocuses will make appearance in due 
season. After the first year they will come up very fine, and well repay 
the trouble taken in planting. With care in planting and taking up 
beiding plants the Crocuses could remain without removal for eight 
or ten years. If the beds are given 2 inches of short manure every 
autumn after the bedding plants are removed that will be about all the- 
care or cost they will require. A few good varieties are Fleur d’Or, 
Golden Yellow, Queen of Sheba, large yellow; Garibaldi, extra large 
purple ; King of the Blues, fine purple ; Marie Stuart, fine white p 
Mont Blanc, grand white ; Queen Victoria, pure white ; Van Speyk, 
beautiful violet an 1 white striped.— Disengaged. 
THE BULB MITE. 
Having tried a very simple remedy for the destruction of the mite 
on various bulbs, and with good reason to be satisfied with the result, I 
beg permission to make it known through the pages of the Journal for 
the benefit of others who may be pested with the mite. I have not 
heard if such a simple method has been tried before, but if it has I 
should be glad to hear with what result. Previous to describing the 
method I adopted I wish to make a few remarks concerning the mite, 
and the various opinions expressed on the matter. Various causes are 
credited with the destruction of so many bulbs, especially the Eucharis, 
which appears to suffer most from the evil, caused, in my opinion, by 
the mite. But the Eucharis is not the only bulb affected ; Pancratiums, 
Vallotas, and Amaryllises are also subject to its attacks. It is asserted 
that bad cultivation, over-watering, and checks being given the plants, 
cause the mite to appear, and I have heard it stated that spontaneously 
with the decay of any matter insects will appear upon the scene. That 
I do not wish to dispute ; but it is my opinion that the mite appears- 
before decay take place, and that they prefer the young healthy roots 
to any decaying matter. If it was the decaying matter only they 
feasted upon cultivators would not begrudge them that. They appear 
to me to confine their operations chiefly to the roots, eating the tissues 
of the roots and leaving only the skin, making them like so many straws, 
and as fast as young roots appear so they share the same fate, until the 
vitality of the bulb is greatly impaired and it ultimately decays. As 
regards watering being the cause of the collapse of the Eucharis, I 
cannot believe that over-watering will harm them. When we consider 
that the Eucharis is a semi-aquatic plant, and will thrive growing in 
water, I think we must expel that idea from our minds. I have had 
them growing in a tank of water the greater portion of the summer 
without any harm to them ; on the contrary, they were perfectly 
healthy, and at that time I did not know what the mite was, and it 
was that treatment that has since suggested itself to me the method I 
have adopted in dealing with the mite. 
Last spring, having most of our Eucharises in a bad state, I had 
them placed in water, covering the leaves and pots with water, and left 
them for a day and a night. After they were taken out and the soil 
drained a little, the soil was shaken from them and the dead roots cut 
away, they were placed into fresh cut turf and leaf soil, which had 
previously been subjected to the heat of a newly turned heap of stable 
