November 24, 1888. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
197 
late Mr. William Briggs, also of Sandfield Park, was 
the first to show trained plants of Japanese at the 
Liverpool Show. Plant training steadily improved, 
and here I intend to leave them, having only referred 
to the Japanese for the purpose of showing that no 
progress was made in the culture of this class before 
1878. They were never exhibited as cut flowers until 
that year, when I staged a box of eighteen varieties 
that seems to have attracted particular attention. 
But during all these years considerable attention was 
devoted to the incurved section, and every exertion 
seems to have been put forward by growers to secure a 
leading position and keep it. Steady, but sure, had 
been the progress made in the culture of the Chrysan¬ 
themum (especially the incurved). Since then we have 
marched forward at a very rapid rate. The few 
incidents that took place ten years ago stirred up 
growers all over the country. We can only perceive 
what rapid progress has been made when we contrast 
the number of growers then and now, the number of 
Chrysanthemum exhibitions and the money offered 
could not stop ; it is well it did not. It brought 
about the Chrysanthemum tournament induced by the 
liberal challenge trophy that was presented by the 
President of the Kingston-on-Thames Society in 1879. 
Though I had grown Japanese for many years, this 
was my first attempt for competition. At that time I 
may fairly claim for the north the foremost position for 
incurved flowers, and at the same time admit 
our southern friends were ahead of us with Japanese, 
simply because they possessed the best varieties. 
Great progress has been made in Liverpool, and even 
greater progress, perhaps, in the neighbourhood of 
many northern provincial towns. I do not doubt that 
the same marked progress has taken place in the south. 
I cannot help thinking that growers were not in real 
earnest prior to 1878, except perhaps in their own 
immediate neighbourhood. The bold stand of the 
south, and the even bolder stand of the north about 
that period, seems to my mind to have fanned the 
flagging enthusiasm of growers to do their utmost to 
gain the victory in the friendly struggle that was to be 
evidently been collected from a large batch of seed¬ 
lings, seeing that notwithstanding their number, they 
exhibited an almost co-extensive number of shades of 
colour as there were flowers. No doubt some of them 
vary according to age, but the shades of rose, lilac, 
mauve, purple-red, white, yellow, crimson, and violet- 
purple were certainly very numerous. In the vicinity 
of London we have also seen Primula japonica flowering 
with tolerable freedom, an occurrence which we con¬ 
sider very unusual in this species. 
-->*<-- 
HYBRID GREENHOUSE 
RHODODEN DRONS. 
As amongst Roses we speak of hybrid perpetuals, 
so we might with equal justice speak in the same 
term of these Rhododendrons, for they are always 
in flower from one year’s end to the other. At 
present there are about two dozen named kinds in 
flower in the Messrs. Veitch’s Chelsea Nursery, besides 
unnamed seedlings coming into bloom from day to day 
Rhododendron, President. 
then and at the present time, and the difference 
between the flowers staged then in various parts of the 
country and the perfection in which they are staged 
now. 
Before passing to the few cultural details I intend 
troubling you with, I may be permitted to briefly note 
the cause that largely brought about such a revolution 
in the culture of this favourite autumn flower. In 
1878 ten guineas were collected from those interested 
in the neighbourhood of Liverpool, and offered in three 
prizes for twenty-four incurved blooms as an induce¬ 
ment to our southern friends to compete against us. 
This really was the outcome of a discussion of the merits 
of the growers, north and south. But time prevents 
me touching farther on that matter; suffice it to say, this 
offer only brought one competitor from the south, and 
if I may be permitted to class it as a representative one, 
it displayed a more marked difference than I anticipated 
would be the case between northern and southern 
growers. The flowers were very similar to those staged 
years before by Messrs. Hobbs & Rowe, while Liverpool 
flowers had increased in size and vastly improved in 
neatness. The spirit of rivalry that had been created 
waged between their respective growers. My successful 
journey from home encouraged others, and in the 
following year several ventured from home for the 
first time, and the result has been wonderful progress 
in Chrysanthemum growing in the immediate vicinity, 
at least, of many large centres in the northern 
provinces—in fact, all over the country. I shall now 
give a few details of northern culture, or, perhaps, 
more correctly, my own views and practice that I have 
found to result satisfactorily. I shall not waste your 
time by minutely detailing how the plants should be 
treated after flowering ; suffice it to say they should 
be placed near the glass, in a cool, airy structure to 
induce the production of strong sturdy cuttings. 
( To be continued,.) 
-- 
PRIMROSES IN NOVEMBER. 
As an indication of the mildness of the season we have 
received a nosegay of variously coloured Primroses from 
Mr. T. S. Ware, Hale Farm Nurseries, Tottenham. 
They were as large, fresh, and fragrant as if they had 
been culled on an April morn. They had also 
for the first time. Fog does not affect them in the least. 
President, of which we give an illustration, has large 
deep apricot-yellow flowers, beautifully tinted with 
salmon towards the margin, and has crimson stamens. 
Another fine type is Monarch, with salmony red flowers, 
and an unnamed seedling with salmony apricot flowers 
bore twenty-three on a single truss. A canary-yellow 
variety of a very floriferous nature, and named Princess 
Christina, bore seventeen trusses of bloom fully 
expanded. A splendid variety is Lord Wolseley, with 
orange-apricot flowers of large size. Ne Plus Ultra is 
of a brilliant scarlet, and is the largest and best of this 
colour. Other choice kinds now iu bloom are Perfection, 
warm rosy pink ; Pink Perfection, beautiful and regular 
shape ; Aphrodite, white ; Jasminiflorum earmiuatum, 
crimson flowers with long tube ; Maiden’s Blush, blush; 
Favourite, large pale rose ; Prince Leopold, orange, 
suffused crimson; Balsaminseflorum aureum, double 
yellow ; Princess Alexandra, delicate blush ; Duchess 
of Connaught, brilliant crimson ; Princess Frederica, 
yellow, tinted salmon at the margins ; Taylori, warm 
rosy pink ; Ophelia, rosy pink ; Queen Victoria, long 
yellow tube, and salmony yellow limb ; and Princess 
Royal, blush, tinted lilac. 
