January 15, 1887. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
317 
National Chrysanthemum. — Jan. 12 th and 
lith .—The encouragement given by this society to 
raisers and cultivators of late-flowering varieties, is 
beginning to have the effect that was originally 
intended, and, if persevered with, must result in the 
mid-winter exhibition becoming an established institu¬ 
tion. The exhibition opened on Wednesday was a 
complete surprise, both as regards extent and the 
quality of the blooms shown, the display being three 
times the size of that held last year, and the quality of 
most of the Chrysanthemums remarkably good, con¬ 
sidering what growers have lately had to contend with. 
For a collection of cut blooms, Mr. R. Owen, Maiden¬ 
head, was first, with very fresh bright flowers of Golden 
Gem, Meg Merrilies, Madame Anna Delaux, Snowdrift, 
Yellow Dragon, Ceres, Jupiter, Geant de Vallance, 
Virginale, &c.; second, Mr. G. Bolas, gardener, Hopton 
Hall, Wicksworth, Derby, with a capital assortment, 
and the blooms surprisingly fresh, considering their 
journey of 150 miles, part of it across a rough country 
with 2 ft. of snow on the ground, and the thermometer 
recording 12° of frost! Third, Mr. J. Lowe, Uxbridge ; 
and an extra prize was awarded to Mr. J. Walker, 
Thame. For twenty-four blooms, Mr. Walters, Sunny- 
side, Burton-on-Trent, was first, Mr. G. Stevens, Putney, 
second, and Mr. J. Hamlyn, Bletchley Park Gardens, 
Bletchley, third. For twelve blooms, Mr. Stevens came 
in first; Mr. J. Walker, second, and Mr. Searle, 
Crediton, third. Mr. Stevens also took the lead with 
twenty-four Japanese ; and in the class for twelve, Mr. 
H. Lister, gardener, Easton Lodge, Dunmow, beat 
Mr. Stevens and Mr. Walker ; while for six Japanese, 
Mr. R. Owen came in first. The leading varieties were 
Grandiflora, Princess Teck, Ceres, Mrs. C. Carey, Duchess 
of Albany, Jupiter, Criterion, Victoria, Sceptre Toulou- 
saine, Comtesse de Beauregard, The Daimio, Fanny 
Boucharlet, Belle Paule, Roseum superbum, Madame 
Lacroix, Guernsey Nugget, Madame C. Audiguier, 
Peter the Great, Le Chinois, Etoile du Midi, &c. 
The prizes offered for subjects of a miscellaneous 
character brought out good mixed collections of deco¬ 
rative plants, from Mr. H. R. Wright, of Lee ; Mr. W. 
Holmes, Hackney ; very fine collections of Primulas 
from Mr. G. Braid, Winchmore Hill ; Messrs. James 
Carter & Co., Messrs. H. Cannell & Sons, Mr. Ives, 
gardener to E. C. Jukes, Esq., Hope House, Winch- 
more Hill ; and Mr. Howes, Upper Tulse Hill ; a grand 
bank of Cyclamens from Mr. Clarke, Twickenham ; 
and Solanums from Mr. Wright. Mr. Edward Mizen, 
Mitcham, received a special prize for a fine lot of 
blooms of the yellow incurved variety, Mrs. Norman 
Davis ; and in a very nice competition with bouquets 
of Chrysanthemums, Mr. W. Brown, Richmond, took 
the lead, followed by Messrs. Davis & Jones and. Mr. 
G. Bolas. On the whole the society has much reason 
for congratulation, and we hope the success achieved 
will lead to a bolder venture next year. 
The Birmingham Gardeners’ Society.— 
This society was started in February last, and now 
numbers over 250 paying members. The first of the 
annual general meetings took place on the 5th inst., 
when there was a large attendance of members, and the 
officers and committee w r ere elected. Mr. W. B. Latham, 
chairman ; Mr. J. Hughes, secretary ; Mr. W. Spinks, 
treasurer ; and Mr. J. Crook, librarian, were unani¬ 
mously re-elected. The library fund has reached £70 ; 
about £40 has been already expended, and a further 
sum will at once be laid out in adding to the already 
well-stocked library of old and modern gardening works, 
which are lent out to members, subject to certain rules. 
A great deal of the success of the library movement is 
due to the energy and courtesy of the secretary, Mr. 
J. Hughes, who solicited subscriptions for this purpose. 
A syllabus of papers and lectures for the winter session 
is now being prepared, and great interest is taken in 
the meetings by the young gardeners of the district. 
The general meeting was a very interesting one in 
other ways. In order to test how good naturally-grown 
plants of local Chrysanthemums can be had in January, 
Mr. A. Wood, of Sutton-Coldfield, at one of the earlier 
meetings, offered a first prize of 205. for the best plants 
to be exhibited at this January meeting ; he supplied 
the plants, but withheld the name of the varieties, so 
that no change of plants could be made. A second 
prize of 10s. and a third of 5s. was offered by other 
members of the society. All the plants distributed 
were Belle Paule, and three competitors entered for the 
prizes with admirably-grown plants, all cultivated by 
young journeymen gardeners. Mr. C. Phinix took the 
first prize with a plant about 4 ft. 6 ins. in height, 
having fine healthy foliage to the pot, and nine stems 
to a plant, each stem carrying a fine well-developed 
bloom. Mr. G. Mumford was second with a scarcely 
inferior plant, also furnished with nine stems ; and 
Mr. H. Dix got the third prize for a dwarfer well-grown 
plant having twelve stems, but the flowers somewhat 
past their best. 
The plants were distributed at the latter endof March, 
and were all alike in growth then. The experiment 
has clearly demonstrated that beautiful, naturally-grown 
plants are easily cultivated ill moderate-sized pots, 
and that we shall now find such plants gradually dis¬ 
placing the large formally-trained plants hitherto so 
popular at our exhibitions. Messrs. Cannell & Sons 
sent some blooms of new single Chinese Primulas, 
including some charming new shades of colour. Some 
of the blooms were large and of good substance, but 
as yet wanting in form ; these created considerable 
interest. Cut blooms sent by Mr. Robert Owen of 
his new Golden Gem Japanese Chrysanthemum were 
also much admired. 
-- 
I am sure that every member of the United Horti¬ 
cultural Benefit and Provident Society will learn with 
very great regret of the death of their secretary, Mr. 
John F. McElroy, at his cottage, Moray Lodge, 
Campden Hill, Kensington, where for twenty years he 
had resided as gardener to A. J. Lewis, Esq. Up to 
Friday last he had been as it appeared in his usual 
health; on that day, after being out in the garden and 
feeling unwell, he went indoors and fell down in a fit, 
unhappily the second of the kind. He was at once put 
to bed, but from the first it was believed there was no 
hope, and he died on Sunday, the 9th, fully conscious, 
peaceful and resigned, in the midst of the members of 
his family. In his death horticulture loses a good man, 
Mr. Lewis a faithful and efficient servant, and the 
United Horticultural Benefit Society a most laborious 
and painstaking secretary—one who did the work for 
the love of the thing, for all that he received in the 
way of remuneration was any small balance, scarcely 
ever much exceeding £3, which remained over from the 
benefit fund at the close of the year. It has been my 
privilege to preside at the annual meeting of this 
society for four years past, and I have had ample 
opportunity of seeing how indefatigable Mr. McElroy 
always was in his work ; and he took great pride in 
the accuracy of his books, keeping them posted up to 
date. 
From his boyhood John F. McElroy was a gardener. 
He was born about 1818, and his father was gardener 
to a Mr. Christie, whose son, William Miller Christie, 
afterwards became a botanist of considerable repute ; 
young McElroy had the advantage of the companion¬ 
ship and instruction of his young master, and in this 
way became well informed on botanical subjects. 
At the age of seventeen he went to live with Mr. William 
Thompson, a market gardener at Hayward’s Heath, 
first as assistant and afterwards as salesman ; then 
with a Mr. Pigeon, at Clapham ; next he became flower 
gardener to Mr. Webber, at Stamford Hill, and from 
thence he went to live with Mr. Renshaw, at Erith ; 
but here his health failed him, probably owing to the 
moist character of the locality, and he was compelled 
to leave. He then engaged himself to Mr. Lancaster, 
of Stamford Hill, and laid out the grounds and got 
them into good working order ; here he remained for 
nineteen years, when, owing to the death of his em¬ 
ployer, he had to leave, and then he engaged himself 
to Mr. Lewis, at Moray Lodge, and had just completed 
the twentieth year of his service. For something like 
eight years he had been the secretary of the United 
Horticultural Benefit and Provident Society, and five 
years ago he was presented by the members with a 
watch in recognition of his services. When he became 
the secretary, he was too old to become a member of 
the society ; but all his life he had devoted himself 
to the service of others, and recognising the invitation 
to become secretary as the call of duty, he devoted 
himself to the work as if he had a strong personal in¬ 
terest in its performance. He had also been a sub¬ 
scriber to the Gardeners’ Royal Benevolent Institution 
since 1869. 
John McElroy was essentially a worker. He took 
great pride in the gardens at Moray Lodge, and they 
were at all times a pattern of scrupulous neatness and 
order ; and all social movements, having for their aim 
the good of his fellow men, found in him a warm sup¬ 
porter ; his pen and spirit alike being pressed into 
their service. He a was staunch teetotaller, and gave 
the Temperance movement all the help in his power. 
His calm and peaceful end, tranquil to the last, was 
the fitting close of such a useful unselfish life. “ Deed 
and Duty ” was his motto. He had but to realise that 
something had to be done, and a sense of duty caused 
him to buckle on his armour and enter the fray. 
“ The prize he sought and won, 
Was the crown for duty done.”— R.D. 
[We are requested to state that Mr. James Hudson, 
The Gardens, Gunnersbury House, Acton, will receive 
all correspondence until such time as a new secretary 
is appointed.] 
-- 
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS. 
Grape, West’s St. Peter's. — Scotia ■■ We know no more of its 
origin than is stated by Mr. Barron, in Vines and Vine Culture, 
viz., “that some 30 years ago it was considered the best late 
variety in cultivation, and that at one time a number of spurious 
varieties were grown : hence, to distinguish the true one, it was 
by some called Oldaker’s West’s St. Peter's, while others named 
it Money's West's St. Peter’s. 
Phal.enopsis. — F. R, M. (p. 301): P. aphrodite, better known 
in gardens under the name of P. amabilis, was the first of the 
genus introduced to this country. It was sent to the late 
Messrs. Rollisson, of Tooting, by Mr. Hugh Cuming, from 
Manilla in 1S37, and it first flowered in their nurseries in 1838 ; 
therefore, to them the credit is due for first cultivating this 
beautiful genus, the queen of Orchids.— B. Q. 
Table Plants. — G. S. (p. 301) : To select the two best plants 
for table decoration—one for stove and the other for greenhouse 
culture—from the many varieties that are so suitable for that 
purpose would be a matter of taste. For the former, I give 
preference to Dracaena terminalis, one of the oldest of the genus, 
but still one of the very best for table and decorative purposes ; 
it is easy to cultivate, and will stand the treatment of a room 
better than a great many stove plants that are used for that 
purpose. For greenhouse culture, I consider Grevillea robusta 
as useful as any ; its beautiful Fern-like foliage specially adapt¬ 
ing it for that purpose. It is very free-growing, and is easily 
raised from seed, when it soon attains a serviceable size.— B. 
[“G. S." may find some useful hints on this subject in the article 
by “ W. G.", at p. 310.] 
Ficus elastica. — H. B. K. (p. 301) : Probably your plant had 
been grown in a house kept at a high temperature before it was 
given to you, and suffered from then being put in a room with a 
much lower temperature, and less light. You may also have 
been treating it too liberally with water, giving more than the 
roots could absorb, and the leaves transpire, an evil against 
which precaution should be taken. Less water should be given 
during the winter months, but do not allow the soil to get dry. 
Being an Indian species, it thrives best in a stove, although it 
can be successfully grown in a greenhouse temperature. Its 
vigorous constitution recommends it as one of the best room 
decorative plants in cultivation.—13. Q. 
Asparagus plumosus nanus .—Market Gardener: The state¬ 
ment in The Horticultural Times is simply ridiculous, and wholly 
misleading. The plant was not known in cultivation forty or 
sixty years ago; there are not forty varieties of it, nor one 
neither does it come from Hungary ! Asparagus plumosus was 
introduced from the Cape or Natal by Messrs. Yeitch about 
1S75 ; and A. plumosus nanus is a garden variety which originated 
in this country, and was also, we believe, put into com¬ 
merce by Messrs. Yeitch. The variety differs from the type in 
the false leaves (cladodes) being arranged in one plane, hence 
the flattened branches and plumose character. It is well 
known in almost every garden, and has been largely planted for 
market work. 
Evergreen Shrubs and Conifers. — J. McD. : It is well known 
that the frequent transplanting of Conifers in nurseries is detri¬ 
mental to the natural development of roots. This is done in 
order to ensure their removal without loss, or to minimise loss 
as much as possible, in their transference from nurseries to 
private places. This is especially the case with large specimens. 
The same danger of being uprooted by storms applies also to 
trees whose early days have been spent in pots, where the roots 
are all coiled up in a mass and never afterwards extend in a 
natural manner. The storm of 26th December last, coupled 
with the weight of the snow, levelled many fine evergreen trees 
and shrubs, showing a weakness in our present management of 
such ornamental subjects.— J. C. B. 
Hibiscus and Stephanotis. - I should be glad if you will tell 
me how to treat the flowering Hibiscus. I have two plants, one 
single and one double. Both flowered well last year, made long 
shoots, and are quite green now, and grooving in the stove. I 
want to prune them. Should Stephanotis be kept dry in winter in 
a stove in order to rest it?— G. D. [The Hibiscus stands the knife 
well, and should be pruned now. It flowers on the young wood 
and may be closely cut back, leaving only a few eyes ; this will 
keep the plant dwarf and bushy. Water sparingly until the 
buds have pushed some way; re-pot it, if necessary, at this 
time, and when it has taken to the fresh material treat liberally. 
If your Stephanotis is planted out, withhold water to induce the 
flower buds to develop ; but if in pots, be more careful not to 
allow the leaves to droop for want of water, otherwise they will 
fall. All that is required is to keep the plant on the dry side 
but never dust-dry, during the winter season.] 
Cupressus nutkainsis v. Thujopsis borealis.— Would any 
correspondent of The Gardening World say whether Cupressus 
nutkiensis is a separate plant from Thujopsis borealis, or 
whether they are mere synonyms for the same thing?— 
H. C. C. 
Senecio pulcher.— Can anyone suggest, from experience or 
otherwise, a ready method of propagating Senecio pulcher? It 
produces seeds very sparingly, or not at all, and cannot there¬ 
fore be increased rapidly in that way.— J, T. B. 
