220 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
December 4, 1886. 
The Gardeners’ Calendar. 
THE PLANT HOUSES. 
Propagating Chrysanthemums. —We have com¬ 
pleted, as far as practicable, the propagation of Chry¬ 
santhemums. There are a few stools upon which the 
cuttings are not forward enough, and which must of 
necessity stand over ; but as soon as the flowering of 
these show signs of going past their best, they will be 
headed down, and so by that means encourage growth 
of the stool. Good specimens cannot be expected if the 
cuttings are not inserted in proper time. As the 
Early Varieties go out of flower, they should he 
removed out-of-doors to some sheltered position, and be 
properly attended to in the way of watering, until it is 
ascertained that sufficient young stock is in hand. 
Most of the early-flowering varieties will give a good 
jfleld of bloom if planted out in some favourable position 
and liberally treated ; they well repay every attention, 
and they can be had in flower before there is danger 
of frost destroying them. 
Camellias. —Should the pots of Camellias show any 
trace of having worms in them, a good dose of lime- 
water should be given to dislodge them. An occasional 
watering of clear liquid manure may be given, especially 
if the plants are carrying many flowers ; soot-water will 
also be found very beneficial, and greatly help to keep 
these plants in good health. Be extremely careful 
that the stock of 
Tree and Other Carnations is not coddled by the 
application of fire-heat. Thoroughly ventilate the 
structure in which they are staged, and keep a sharp 
look-out for green fly, against which fumigate or dip in 
a solution of Tobacco water. Over-watering of these 
plants must be carefully avoided, and the surface of 
the soil kept free from moss and occasionally stirred ; 
but do not top-dress at present. 
Zonal Pelargoniums. — As the zonals finish flower¬ 
ing, have them removed and placed on some light airy 
shelf, and kept rather dry. Towards February they 
will start away again, and form a good succession to 
those which may now be put in their places. 
THE FORCING HOUSES. 
The Early Vinery. —When it is perceived that 
the buds on the earliest Vines are swelling up, a little 
more heat may be applied ; but still guard against 
anything like a high night temperature—50° will suit 
well. If the border was not watered at starting, a 
soaking should be given, but it must he warmed—say—- 
to 80°, which will encourage growth and help to warm 
the soil. To the soil in the outer border water of a 
much higher temperature may be given, but avoid 
placing too great a depth of fermenting material, or 
the soil will become sour. 
Pot Vines. —In the case of pot Vines, care must be 
taken that the bottom heat is renewed when required ; 
at the best these are ticklish customers to deal with, 
and any neglect will be certain to result in an in¬ 
different crop. A pot Vinery is, in my opinion, far 
preferable in every respect, and will last for many 
years where over-cropping is not indulged in. Peaches, 
unless required very early, will not need to be started 
before the beginning of the new year. 
Pit for Early Strawberries. —It will now be 
advisable to prepare a pit for the earliest Strawberries. 
Let it be filled with all Oak-leaves, if possible, as these 
give a gentle heat which lasts a long time. Do not 
plunge the pots ; but after it has had time to settle, 
let it be well trodden, and then the plants be packed 
together. The heat rising from the bed will be quite 
sufficient to start them into active rooting and growth. 
At the same time, it is advisable to have the bed made 
in a heated pit, when, in the case of severe weather, 
the pipes may be used. 
Varieties for Early Forcing. —As to varieties, 
we find none so reliable for first work as Keen’s Seedling, 
to be followed by President and Sir J. Paxton ; and for 
late work, British Queen and Sir C. Napier—a selection 
that all may rely upon. I am quite aware that in 
many places Keen’s rapidly runs out to such an extent 
as to become quite useless ; in that case, substitute 
Vicomtesse Hericart de Thury, a good hardy reliable 
kind. 
Chicory, Asparagus, &c. —¥e have placed a batch 
of Chicory roots in the Mushroom house, so as to have 
it in readiness. "VVe have also put in successional 
batches of Sea Kale and Asparagus roots, and prepared 
the next pit to succeed. We have also made another 
sowing of French Beans, which completes the round. 
Cucumbers are fruiting, but they swell slowly ; 
albeit, a good top and bottom-heat is maintained. I 
fancy it may, in a great measure, be accounted for 
by the almost total absence of sun ; the plants are, 
however, growing vigorousljL 
THE KITCHEN GARDEN AND GROUNDS. 
General Work. —The weather having continued 
favourable we have made good headway with the digging 
of empty squares, also the border for earliest Potatos. 
We have also put litter round the crowns of Globe 
Artichokes, dressed and dug between the rows, and so 
made them secure. We are now double digging 
squares ready for Parsnips, and attention will next be 
paid to the square intended for Carrots. 
Preparing Ground for Potatos. —Most of the 
squares are occupied by green crops, upon which we 
hope to plant Potatos ; but as they are finished digging 
will be carried on. We have removed Cauliflower 
stools from the border where they were grown, and 
after giving a good dressing of leaf-soil intend to ridge 
for planting Mvatt’s Potatos. 
Storing Horse-Radish. —We intend within a few 
days to lift and store a sufficient stock of Horse-Radish. 
I must not omit to say, carefully save all thongs when 
lifting Sea-Kale for forcing, they keep readily if a 
little litter be placed over them. 
Save the leaves. —Now that the leaves are all 
down, it is absolutely necessary that they should be 
got together quickly, in order that the ground may 
be kept as tidy as possible, those for hot-bed pur¬ 
poses being kept by themselves ; the remainder, if put 
together and turned once or twice, will come in most 
useful for digging in, particularly if the soil is of a 
retentive nature. 
Levelling Turf. —If unsettled weather prevail we 
shall attend to the levelling of turf, repairing of 
verges all round, and sucli-like work; time may also be 
profitably spent in thoroughly rolling both the turf 
and walks after the leaves have been cleared away. — 
Walter Child, Croomc Court. 
■ --- 
HORTICULTURAL SOCIETIES. 
NOTTS HORTICULTURAL AND BOTANICAL. 
The first general meeting of the above Society for 
the winter season was held at the Mechanics’ Institute, 
Nottingham, on Wednesday, November 17th, when 
there was a very large attendance of members and 
others. The vice-president of the society, Mr. Samuel 
Thacker, was unanimously voted to the chair, and the 
subject chosen for discussion w T as the Chrysanthemum. 
The chairman took occasion to refer to the financial 
condition of the society, which is not at the present 
time in the most flourishing condition, a circumstance 
much to be regretted, considering that Nottingham is 
such a large and wealthy towrn. To some extent this 
was no doubt owing to the want of energy on the part 
of some of the members of the society, but it was 
hoped that the large gathering that evening would be 
the means of stimulating to further exertion. The 
society has Keen established five years, and it is 
gratifying to observe the rapid strides horticulture has 
made, through its influence, in the district. 
There was an excellent display of Chrysanthemums, 
fruits, &c., the merits of which were freely discussed by 
the members. The magnificent display of Chrysanthe¬ 
mums exhibited by H. A. Fisher, Esq., The Park, 
Nottingham (gardener, Mr. Sutton), was by far the 
most attractive feature, and for size, colour and form 
w'ere simply perfection. Mr. Johnson, St. Anne’s Well 
Road, Nottingham, an artizan grower, sent some 
immense blooms of Queen of England, Empress of India 
and Mrs. George Rundle, which reflected upon him the 
greatest credit. Mr. C. J. Mee, of Wollaton Hall 
Gardens,exhibited agoodstand of blooms, alsoa large and 
varied collection of Apples and Pears — all the favourite 
varieties being well represented. Pitmastou Duchess 
Pear was especially fine, and Improved Besspool Apple 
very large and highly coloured. H. R. Clifton, Esq., 
Clifton Hall (gardener, Mr. Anderson), staged a miscel¬ 
laneous collection of fruits, amongst which were a 
single bunch of Gros Colmar Grapes very fine in berry, 
and an unknown variety of Apple—supposed to be a 
seedling—which has excellent keeping qualities, and a 
peculiar yet agreeable flavour. His Pears, Pitmaston 
Duchess and Maria Louise, were very good. J. Fairfield, 
Esq., Stapleford (gardener, Mr. Forrest), staged two 
fairly well-finished bunches of Barbarossa, and a collec¬ 
tion of cut Camellias. Mr. S. Thacker, as usual, set 
up a pretty arrangement of cut Orchid flowers, which 
received a large share of attention from the visitors. 
Amongst others were Lycaste Skinnerii alba, Cypri- 
pedium Sedeni, Cypripedium caudatum, Oncidium 
Rogersii, Oncidium ornithorrhynchum, Vanda coerulea, 
Phalaenopsis amabilis, Zygopetalum Mackayii, and 
the beautiful and useful Dendrobium superbiens ; the 
whole being arranged upon a groundwork of Asparagus 
and Ferns. Mr. Fletcher, Annesley, Notts., sent two 
dishes of his seedling Potatos, Lord Tennyson and 
Dewdrop. The former is a beautiful kidney variety of 
fine form, and the latter a coloured, round, late 
variety ; for which the Society’s Certificate of Merit 
was awarded. Messrs. J. R. Pearson & Sons, Chilwell, 
had a large and excellent assortment of Apples and 
Pears, together with an arrangement of Chrysanthe¬ 
mums, &c. C. J. Cox, Esq. (gardener. Mr. Meadows) ; 
F. W. Cooper, Esq. (gardener, Mr. Ralph) ; and Mr. 
T. B. Hallam each staged very creditable collections 
of Chrysanthemums, &e. 
Manchester Horticultural Improvement. 
—Novel liber 17 th .—At this meeting, which was largely 
attended, Mr. Bruce Findlay, the president, occupied 
the chair, and Mr. William Neild read a paper on the 
Chrysanthemum. The Chrysanthemum, or golden 
flower, is, he said, of all flowers one of the least difficult 
to cultivate, and when well-grown one of the most 
effective. It is an extensive genus of plants which pro¬ 
duces composite flowers, and comprises annuals, per¬ 
ennials and half-shrubby forms of growth. Most of 
the species are found in a wild state in different parts 
of Europe ; several of them are not worth growing, 
their flowers being of a very inferior description. We 
have two British species, namely, the Corn Marigold 
and the great Ox-eye Daisy, both of which bear very 
pretty flowers, and are well worthy of a place in the 
garden. They are, in their native state, two of our 
brightest and best composites. The Chinese Chrysan¬ 
themum was originally introduced into England from 
the Celestial Empire in the year 1764, but was soon 
afterwards lost, and was again introduced in 1795. At 
that time there was a considerable difference of opinion 
among botanists as to which genus the flower belonged ; 
some held that it was Camomile, wdiilst others believed 
it was a Pyrethrum. To compromise the matter it was 
eventually decided to name it Chrysanthemum, from 
chrysos, “gold,” and anthemum, “a flower,” from 
the golden colour of some of the species. It is the 
favourite flower of the Chinese, and is carried with 
them whenever they emigrate. The Japanese kinds 
were introduced by Mr. Fortune from Japan about 
1860, and three years after this date one was figured 
in the Botanical Magazine. Both Chinese and Japanese 
varieties are very popular, and deservedly so, their 
flowers being varied in size, form, and fragrance, and 
of every shade of colour except blue. They are pro¬ 
duced naturally at a season of the year when other out¬ 
door flowers are scarce ; are a hardy race of plants, 
easily propagated by means of cuttings, layers, division 
of old plants, and from seed. The latter method of 
propagation is chiefly adopted with the view of obtain¬ 
ing new varieties. 
This is a very interesting occupation, for which there 
is comparatively a small return in the form of new 
plants. The late Mr. John Salter estimated that only 
one seedling Chrysanthemum out of every 2,000 raised 
was worth naming. There are probably 1,500 or 1,600 
varieties in cultivation, and many of these have two or 
three synonyms, so that there are close upon 2,000 
names to select from. Several of the principal nursery¬ 
men have adopted the excellent plan of giving the 
synonym after the correct name, which will prove to be 
of great assistance to persons ordering plants, and will 
remove a source of disappointment to many people. It 
is not necessary or desirable to grow all the varieties, 
as many of them are so much alike that it requires an 
expert to discover the difference. Mr. Neild gave the 
names of a goodly selection of the best representatives 
of the different forms of flowers, and then went on to 
say that there has been a very marked improvement in 
the cultivation of Chrysanthemums during the past 
few years. Cue of the most notable features is their 
height. Most cultivators now manage their plants so 
