January 81, 1889. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
87 
November, at the Rink, Blackheatli. Mr. C. Harman Payne, at the 
invitation of the Committee, kindly exhibited his collection of coloured 
plates representing Chrysanthemums in all stages of development, and ex¬ 
tending over the whole period of which we are about to celebrate the 
•centenary of these flowers in this country. The Committee awarded him 
the diploma of the Society. If the enthusiasm shown by members of 
this Society is any indication, it is evident the Chrysanthemum is not 
yet 1 on its downward course. The great advantage in a county Society 
like this is that growers living wide apart and not numerous enough to 
support a series of local shows, find a common ground upon which all 
may meet on an equal footing.—N. 
CUTTING DOWN CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 
In reply to some of your numerous readers I will endeavour to 
point out the season for cutting down the Chrysanthemum. I will 
commence with the very late varieties—viz., Eve, Mabel Ward, Cherub, 
Hero of Stoke Newington, Princess Teck, Mrs. N. Davis. The above 
should be struck early in order to have strong plants by the cutting 
down season, which for the above must not be later than the last week 
in April. About a week later the following may be cut back: — 
Duchess of Albany, Meg Merrilies, and its fine sport Ralph Brockle- 
bank, M. N. Davis, Mrs. Cannell, Madame Rozain, and Fleur de Marie. 
From the middle of May to the end of the month is when the general 
collection, or the most of them, should be cut down. Giving incurved 
varieties the first place, we have Barbara, Baron Beust, Jardin des 
Plantes, Cassandra, the whole of the Queen and Empress family, Lady 
Hardinge, Lady Talfourd, and John Salter. The Japanese and reflexed 
are as follows :—Agrements de la Nature, Amy Furze, Baronne de 
Prailly, Boule d’Or, C. Delmas, Criterion, Jeanne Delaux, E. Moly- 
neux, Madame C. Audiguier, Mdlle. Lacroix, Mdlle. Moulis, Maiden’s 
Blush, Mr. Garner, Mr. J. J. Ilillier, C. Orchard, Mrs. J. Wright, Orne- 
ments, Snowstorm, Hamlet, Othello, not forgetting the old favourite 
Triomphe du Nord. 
For the earliest varieties, which will be better if struck a fortnight 
later than those already referred to ; though the last to be cut down 
these are not the least in favour, for amongst them are some of the best. 
Of incurved we have the Rundle trio, the Beverleys, Aureum Multi- 
floruro, and Reine des Blanches (terminal bud). The Japanese include 
the following :—Annie Clark, Belle Paule, Bertier Rendatier, Bouquet 
Fait, and its sports Wm. Robinson and Miss Gorton, Charlotte de 
Montcabrier, Elaine, Comte de Germiny, Exposition de Troyes, Jos. 
Mahood, Henri Jacotot, Jas. Salter, Lady Selborne, Wm. Stevens, La 
Triomphante, M. H. Elliot, M. Astorg, Thunberg, Martha Harding, and 
Val d’Andorre, also Wm. Holmes, which makes a charming plant. 
The collection is examined two or three days previous to the time of 
•cutting down, and the plants intended for that purpose are placed by 
themselves in order to keep the roots rather dry, though not dust dry ; by 
so doing the plants do not suffer from bleeding. Great care is necessary 
not to get the roots soddened ; in fact, the only water I give them is 
•either from the syringe or fine-rose watering can for ten days or more, 
according to the season. If a wet season the plants should be kept in a 
frame or laid on their sides till beginning to break. Some judgment is 
required as to how the plants should be cut down. One of the main 
points is to keep the foliage good from the time of propagating, so that 
four or more good leaves are left on the stem after being cut back. It 
will be seen that the earlier varieties to be cut back will reap this ad¬ 
vantage ; the later cut-backs or the earliest really, if struck with the 
others, sometimes become bare at the base ; then they must not be cut 
lower than 1 foot from the pot, or the plants will not break so freely as 
desirable. The plants should get their final shift when the growths are 
about half an inch long, being very careful in supplying water for two 
or three weeks. 
I could mention many other varieties that succeed well under the 
above treatment, but perhaps enough have been mentioned to show what 
can be done in this system. The varieties mentioned may be fairly 
relied upon as giving from four to a dozen good blooms. The number 
must be regulated according to sorts, though we have had six good 
blooms on the Queen family which are of the largest type.— A Notts 
Geowee. 
I AM glad to see that the subject of cutting down Chrysanthemums 
is being discussed in this Journal, because I am sure that if the system 
be found to answer with the late varieties it will be of great benefit to 
growers in the north. Varieties such as Boule d’Or, Meg Merrilies and 
its sport Ralph Broeklebank, the Princess of Teck family, and some 
others, are seldom seen at their best at our northern shows, being often 
too late when grown in the usual way without stopping. Would some 
of the readers of the Journal who have had experience in the cutting 
down of these varieties kindly say if they carl be depended upon to 
produce exhibition blooms under that system ? Should they be cut into 
the hard wood, or simply topped at a given date ? In either case when 
ought the operation to be performed so as to have the blooms at their 
best about the last week in November ?— James Gbant, Crimonmogate 
Gardens, Aberdeenshire. 
CHRYSANTHEMUM SPORTS. 
I do not think “ J.” can have read my paper very carefully, or he 
would have grasped my meaning more clearly. When referring to 
black, I simply explained the fact that there really was no black in 
flowers, but what was-called black, as in the Pansy for instance, was 
really a dark purple, and I suggested that with deeper shades of purple 
we might eventually get to so-called black in the Chrysanthemum. 
My remarks as to red and purple being the same. I distinctly pointed 
out that we found two ground colours in the Chrysanthemum, white 
and yellow, and that upon white ground flowers by gradations we have 
various shades of purple ; on the yellow ground flowers we get the same 
gradations of red or crimson. These reds and purples do not sport or 
change, but the white ground changes to the yellow ground, and the 
purple that we found ingrained upon the white reflects red instead of 
purple. There has been no change of material here, the change was in 
the white to yellow, hence the material colour is the same though the 
reflection is different. What we mostly have to investigate is what has 
caused the change from white to yellow ? We have not to investigate 
the reflection of colour, but the material that creates the reflection. 
In regard to the other queries, I can only say at the moment I have 
had several communications from friends upon the subject of mv paper 
generally, and I hope very shortly to deal further with the question of 
floral colouring and give my reasons ; but I would just say now that I 
do not think anyone is likely to arrive at any satisfactory solution while 
they mix Nature and Art : that seems to me to be the stumbling block. 
The mixtures of various compounds of animal, vegetable and mineral 
products only imitate colours, they do not make them as in Nature. 
We know what to mix to make paints and what the materials are, but 
we do not understand what creates the changes in the colours of flowers. 
—N. Davis, Camberwell. 
SURREY CHRYSANTHEMUM SOCIETY. 
The annual dinner of this Society was held at the Grove House, 
Camberwell, on Jan. 22nd, presided over by the President of the 
Society, Mr. Houghton, supported by the Vice-President, Mr. Vaughan. 
After the usual loyal toasts, the President proposed the “ Society,” and 
in his statement of the work of the past season congratulated the 
members on the success which had been attained, the Show held at the 
Peckham Public Hall being, both from the number of entries and quality 
of blooms, as well as the attendance of visitors, the best yet held, and 
expressed the hope that the coming season would result in the addition 
of even greater vitality and the influx of new members. Gratifying 
testimony was paid to the zeal and earnestness of the Secretary, Mr. 
Springett, and which had done so much to make the finances and 
Show so satisfactory. Some grand examples of Crotons, Dracaenas, and 
Pandanus Veitchi adorned the tables, kindly lent by Mr. Dickens, 
gardener to R. Beber, Esq. 
POTATOES. 
As an article of food these rank next to “ the staff of life ” 
with the majority of the rural population of this country, and in many 
instances form part of “the staff” itself. Almost every individual 
consumes them, and everyone grows them who has a vegetable 
garden. This probably accounts for much being written about 
Potatoes, and is my sole excuse for saying a few words on the 
subject. There is no other vegetable which varies so much under 
different circumstances ; a variety that is good in one place is 
useless in another, and one that is almost disease-proof with 
one person will be severely stricken with his immediate neigh¬ 
bour. Why is this ? and what is science doing to enable us to grow 
all varieties of Potatoes of uniform quality and equal in crop ? 
The answer is, I fear, practically nothing, and so we are driven to 
compare notes with each other and learn what we can from 
experience. 
With your permission I will, therefore, say in as few words 
as possible how we keep up the supply with first rate Potatoes from 
September to June ; and first as to soil, because the variations in 
this account for most of the variations in the cooking qualities of 
Potatoes and also of the weight of the crop. For instance, with 
the early varieties of the Ashleaf section we can secure only a very 
little top and no Potatoes where we grow the late varieties. 
Magnum Bonum, which is of first rate quality here, is quite inferior 
six miles from us on the red sandstone, while Wormleighton Seed¬ 
ling, which closely resembles it, is very good. We grow the mid¬ 
season and late varieties in an arable field composed of a stiff loam 
resting on limestone and full of small pieces of stone, sloping 
sharply to the west, very shallow and poor. We tried to overcome 
the last defect by ploughing in a good quantity of manure a few 
weeks before planting, as is generally advised for late Potato 
culture in fields. This gave us plenty of top and a fair crop of 
very fine Potatoes, but when these were cooked they were not by 
any means so good as they looked ; many of them were hollow in 
the centre and useless for food. 
The next season, in order to have a change of crop, we planted 
them where the Mangolds had been grown for the dairy farm the 
previous summer, and that is the system we always follow now. 
The land is heavily manured and deeply ploughed in December or 
January, and a crop of Mangolds grown on it that season. As soon 
as they are stored, which is about the middle of October, the land 
is deeply ploughed without any manure, and left to the action of 
the winter’s frost, of which we generally have a large share. About 
