136 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
October 31, 1885. 
NOTES ON CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 
Who can wonder that the “mum” fever, as it is 
Sometimes called, is speading at such an amazing rate 
throughout the country, for among the host of 
cultivated plants what can vie with the Chrysanthe¬ 
mum during the autumn and winter months 1 And the 
improvement that has taken place during the last few 
years, both in the varieties and the perfection to which 
they are grown, is simply marvellous. If it is possible 
to find persons who really do not like Chrysanthemums, 
they must indeed be insensible to the charms of floral 
beauty. Those who depreciate anything formal in 
flowers, cannot urge that objection against the curious 
forms and lovely colours of the Japanese varieties ; if, on 
the other hand, they have an eye for even rounded 
forms, the symmetrical outline and even petals of the 
Incurved kinds should be faultless in their eyes, but 
should none of these be suited to their tastes, surely 
they will find some favourites among the Anemone- 
flowered, Pompone, or reflexed varieties. 
Chrysanthemums are beautiful when well grown after 
any particular method. When not disbudded at all, they 
make a fine show when placed on large stages where 
they are above the eye ; the small flowers drooping 
around the larger ones are seen to advantage then, and 
the flowers are also most useful for cut blooms for vase 
decoration. They also have a very imposing appearance 
when grown as specimen plants disbudded to one flower 
on a shoot. But, in my own estimation, they are seen 
to the greatest perfection when grown into large blooms 
by leaving only a few on a plant, such flowers show the 
highest state of perfection to which they can be brought, 
and leave a lasting impression on those who see them, 
an impression that gives pleasure, even after the blooms 
have vanished, and spurs the enthusiast onward in his 
cultural labours till the time when he is again re¬ 
warded by a rich harvest of varied and imposing blooms. 
The present is a capital time to look over the whole 
stock and take notes of the varieties that are backward 
in coming into flower, so that another year the buds 
that appear in July or early in August may be taken, 
because if such means are not resorted to, some of the 
very best varieties cannot be had in flower till the 
majority of sorts are past their best; and where blooms 
are wanted for exhibition, this is a great drawback, 
but if not wanted for that purpose, late varieties are 
most useful for prolonging the season of these popular 
flowers. The following are kinds that naturally bloom 
late:—Japanese : Grandiflorum, MegMerrilees, Roseum 
superbum, Gold Thread, Fanny Boucharlet, and Oracle ; 
Incurved: Barbara, Antonelli, Belladonna, Hero of 
Stoke Newington, Bronze Jardin des Plantes, and 
Alfred Salter. I have no doubt there are many others 
that bloom quite as late as these, but I have made a 
note of those above mentioned, as they are later in 
coming into flower with us, although they have been 
given precisely the same treatment as a number of 
other varieties.— II. Dunkin. 
-- 
THE ALLOTMENT SYSTEM. 
Knowing how earnestly you advocate the allotment 
system, and feeling myself that it presents many ad¬ 
vantages as a social and moral force in elevating our 
labouring population, I cannot help remarking that in 
many cases the want of something to do in their spare 
time frequently leads them into mischief, as would not 
be the case if they had what they need, recreation of 
some kind. Many working men spend much of their 
spare time in reading, and an increasing number take to 
music, but at present all cannot read, nor is it desirable 
that ones spare time should be consumed in either 
literature or music ; but the cultivation of a few rods 
of ground will, if entered on earnestly, give healthy 
exercise and recreation, and some return of a more sub¬ 
stantial character. This question has a very distinct 
bearing on the moral elevation of our labouring popu¬ 
lation, not perhaps so much in a direct as an indirect 
way, by cultivating and encouraging in them a taste 
for something more than the mere drudgery of the soil, 
and directing their attention to those simple processes 
which are capable of rendering their labour more 
effective and agreeable, by makiug it not mere task 
work for the hands, but occupation for the mind, and 
this without any direct attempt to improve their moral 
habits, butindirectly, byinculcatinghabitsof expertness, 
neatness, and emulation, for which so many from 
ignorance are strangers. 
It is not too much to say that the condition in which 
a man’s allotment is kept affords a ready means of 
learning what manner of man he is, and what his home 
is like ; if neatness, and a well-ordered system of crop¬ 
ping exists in the allotment, thrift, comfort, and 
happiness will generally be found in the home. It is 
very much to be regretted that so many of our agricul¬ 
tural labourers have very little or no garden ground, 
and from the circumscribed and unsanitary condition 
of their dwellings, are almost compelled to spend much 
of their spare time in the village ale-house (no other 
chanCe of recreation being open to them), wasting their 
scanty earnings, instead of augmenting them as they 
might do if only they had a piece of ground on which 
to grow vegetables, if only enough for their own con¬ 
sumption. In many instances those living in the 
vicinity of towns and populous villages, having a love 
for flowers, might start the cultivation of some favourite, 
and make a speciality of it with a view to profit, and 
very much better their financial position. With a pig 
in the sty and flowers in the garden many an intel¬ 
ligent labourer would find a ready way of raising his 
rent. 
It would be a happy day for the country at large if 
our rural clergy and gentry would take this question 
earnestly in hand. It is a practical subject, and would 
do a great deal of good, besides, perhaps, counteracting 
the influences of some of the many wild notions floating 
in the air. To reap the full benefits that may accrue 
to the labouring population of our villages, each parish 
or group of villages should have its annual flower show 
aud industrial exhibition, with the prize schedule 
formed in such a way as to give the greatest encourage¬ 
ment to all. It often happens in these gatherings that a 
few more ardent spirits, placed in a somewhat better 
position as regards ways and means than most of their 
neighbours, succeed in carrying off a large proportion 
of prizes, and when fairly won, it seems a hard thing 
to do aiything likely to debar them from their well- 
earned success ; but as these village shows are instituted 
to encourage as much as possible all who enter the lists, 
it seems quite a necessary thing to limit the number of 
prizes which auy one exhibitor should be allowed to 
take, for if a few exhibitors year after year carry off all 
the best prizes, the others get discouraged, and refrain 
from showing. 
These shows should be gala days for the districts in 
which they are held, and be made a general holiday as 
far as circumstances will admit of. With the support 
of the local gentry, and good management, a day’s 
enjoyment for the country folks can be ensured for a 
very moderate outlay. With the assistance of a band 
of music, no more agreeable afternoon’s enjoyment can 
be ensured for them. — TV. B. G. 
EARLY CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 
Few more welcome novelties have been received 
from the Continent during the last year or two than 
the summer-flowering Japanese Chrysanthemums, of 
which we give an illustration to-day, prepared from 
specimens, kindly sent us by Mr. W. E. Boyce, of Yer- 
bury Road, Holloway. (Fig. 1.) Mandarin is’quite 
new, and worthy of all praise as an early bloomer. Its 
large compact flowers are very elegant, the petals being 
of a cream and pink colour, the pink deepening to rose 
as the flower gets older. It was well shown a fortnight 
ago at the meeting of the National Chrysanthemum 
Society, by Mr. Boyce and Mr. N. Davis, and was 
awarded a First Class Certificate. (Fig, 2.) Roi des 
Precoces, is also a very neat flower, and an acquisition 
on account of its rich deep crimson colour, shaded with 
red, and which the golden centres seems somewhat to 
intensify. (Fig. 3.) Mons. Roux is very showy, the 
t wisted petals being of a deep bronzy red, and the reverse 
nankeen yellow. We understand that they are all good 
growers, and in ordinary seasons come into bloom in 
September, but this year with Chrysanthemums of all 
sorts they have been a little later than usual. 
-—:- 
TYNINGHAME. 
f Concluded from page 120.) 
Next morning I made a visit to the gardens and 
grounds in company with Mr. Inglis, and what I saw 
there 1 will now describe as briefly as possible consistent 
with giving a pretty correct indication of their dimen¬ 
sions and contents, &c.—■ 
The Floiver Garden. —This, which has been judi¬ 
ciously laid out aud planted, is situated opposite the 
south and West fronts of the mansion. That, in the 
last-named position, is level and considerably higher 
than the former, from which it is divided by a suitable 
wall ruuning westward and parallel •with that of the 
mansion in the same direction. It contains on either side 
the principal walks, running in the same direction as the 
wall indicated above, several very fine healthy-looking 
standard Portugal Laurels, having well-proportioned 
umbrella-shaped heads, growing in what would appear at 
first sight to be stone boxes, about 30 ins. high, the same 
width at the top, and a few inches less at the bottom, but 
which, in reality, are growing in the ground underneath 
the imitation boxes. The beds in both the upper aud 
lower parts of this beautiful garden were alike gay with 
a variety of pleasing colours, which were tastefully ar¬ 
ranged. The silvery foliage of the Thistle-like Chamse- 
peuce diacantha, of which a liberal use has been made, 
set in a carpeting of green and grey, and surrounded by 
patches of bright yellow, dark, and white, had a very 
felling effect when contrasted with the masses of pink, 
scarlet, blue, &c., by which they were surrounded. I 
may remark that the ground at the south side slopes 
gently in that direction from the house, whence a 
pleasing and extensive view of hill and dale, wood and 
water, is obtained. 
The Pleasure Grounds. —These are contiguous to 
the flower garden. They extend in an easterty and 
northerly direction, are extensive and very beautiful, 
especially so eastward of the “ Ivy arbour,’’ which is a 
very interesting spot, not so much on account of the 
great area of agreeable shade which the large luxuriant 
leaves of the Ivy afford from bright sunshine during the 
summer months as by reason of the aged and prostrate 
trunk of a tree (the name of which there is some doubt 
about) with which it fell several centuries ago, and to 
which, as in life, the Ivy has not only clung tena¬ 
ciously, but has also effectually protected it from the 
weather, through the long interval of years—yes, of 
centuries—which has elapsed since that event took 
place, and established itself as a living ornamental and 
useful monument of the fact. Other spots worthy of 
special notice in the grounds are, first, the fine bank of 
ornamental and flowering trees and shrubs, including 
Arbutus (the Strawberry tree), Laburnums, &c., which 
runs parallel with the sunk fence or “ ha-ha ” dividing 
the grounds from the park, the latter avenue-like at 
that side (north) of the mansion, having a particularly 
imposing appearance. Next there is a spacious bowling 
green, perhaps the finest in the county, where a 
“bowling tournament” takes place once or twice a 
year, and in which game mine host is—as the silver- 
mounted trophies (bowling-balls) at Ivy Cottage amply 
testify—an adept. 
The “wilderness”—which, as the name might lead 
some of your readers to suppose, does not necessarily 
mean a neglected or untidy part of the grounds—the 
surface of which is covered with coloured Primroses and 
a small percentage of other flowers in spring, when the 
effect may be better imagined than described, is also 
worthy of passing notice. Before quitting the grounds, 
I may be allowed to remark that here—or, at any rate, 
close by*-any disciple of good old Isaak "Walton could, 
providing he was furnished with the necessary permit 
to do so, enjoy himself to his heart’s content on the 
banks of the Tyne, in the waters of which the lines of 
tall trees and spreading shrubs, with their autumnally- 
tinted leaves, are reflected, and which are stocked to 
repletion with a variety of fish, including Salmon, with 
“Here and there a lusty trout. 
And here and there a grayling.” 
The Kitchen Garden is situate a few hundred 
yards west of the mansion, and slopes well towards the 
south. A broad walk, having wide borders well-filled 
with a variety of choice herbaceous plants on either 
side, runs longitudinally through the centre of this 
garden, which is oblong, and enclosed by a high wall, 
to a range of houses at the top ; whence in a south¬ 
easterly direction a view of great extent aud beauty, 
including in the near distance the silvery waters of the 
winding Tyne, is obtained. The several plots and 
borders, resulting from the formation of the usual cross 
and side walks, are well cropped with a variety of 
seasonable vegetables ; the most noteworthy being 
several broad trenches of Celery, containing four or five 
rows of plants each, and a couple of dozen excellent 
rows of Ne Plus Ultra and Yeitch’s Sturdy Peas, and 
