84 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
October 10, 1891. 
CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 
At the Rye Croft Nursery. 
The Chrysanthemum season is already in full swing, 
so far as early varieties are concerned, and every 
succeeding year now brings us additional varieties of 
what must be considered September and October 
flowering sorts. Japanese varieties-are most con¬ 
spicuous amongst the new comers, and next to them 
come the Pompons. The undermentioned kinds we 
noticed during the last week of September, in the 
fine trade collection of Mr. H. J. Jones, at the Rye 
Croft Nursery, Lewisham. Besides a most complete 
collection of old and comparatively .new varieties, 
Mr. Jones has added 497 new sorts to his stock this 
season, being the entire lot of new kinds that could 
be obtained amongst the growers upon the Continent 
and elsewhere. 
Japanese varieties. 
What the size of the flower heads may be cannot 
be stated for certain this year, on account of the late 
period (March) when the plants were received, and 
the subsequent propagation to which they have been 
subjected. Owing to their advanced state a new 
house has been provided tor their reception, and 
already the display is very fine. Vice-president 
Hardy has somewhat reflexed florets, revolute at the 
edges and of a bronze hue, deepening to purple at 
the tips. A somewhat peculiar variation in colour is 
seen in Alfred Werle; the crown buds are yellow or 
creamy white, but those of the terminals are pink, 
and the plant is very floriferous. President Rene 
de St. Foix is crimson and variously splashed with 
yellow towards the tips of the florets, and the reverse 
is yellow and very conspicuous in the half-expanded 
state. The heads of M. Pierre Cassagneau are 
spreading, dark crimson-red and very early. Rather 
choice is Madame Ve Pasquier, with large, creamy 
white heads and a yellowish centre. The clear rose 
heads of Gaston Chandon de-Briailles are attractive, 
and the long florets have their edges revolute. The 
long and broad florets of Secretaire Alfred Bleu are 
yellow with a bronzy margin. Eugene Mercier is a 
decorative kind with small crimson heads fading to a 
crimson-red, and very floriferous. Another free 
flowering decorative sort is Madame Paul Nansot, 
with dark purple florets, and a silver} 7 reverse some¬ 
what after the style of Ed. Audiguier. The large 
spreading heads of Baron Veillard are yellow slightly- 
tinted with bronze. A large, reflexed variety is 
Souvenir du Petit P. Mezard, with deep bronzy buff 
florets, and full in the centre. The gracefully droop¬ 
ing and twisted florets of Madame Greard are pure 
white when fully expanded. A curious novelty is 
met with in M. Valery Larbaut, having about half 
of the florets milk white, the other half rosy-violet 
irregularly mixed, and a creamy centre. The rosy- 
purple florets of M. Merendet are loosely recurved, 
and considerably twisted ; and the silvery reverse is 
often shown. A deep flower is that of Madame A. 
Thiebault de la Croure, with much twisted and re¬ 
volute white florets and rose on the reverse. 
Of medium size is Madame Eulalie Morel, with 
horizontal florets of a soft salmon-purple and pale 
yellow reverse; it might be used for decorative 
purposes. The same might be said of Charles de 
Cazanove, a floriferous deep crimson sort with 
silvery reverse. A large reflexed sort is M. Bour- 
nisien, with rosy-purple florets, revolute at the edge, 
and pale yellow on the reverse. The broad, spread¬ 
ing florets of Madame E. Bellan are pink and some¬ 
what undulated. Those of Ami Meyard are flat, 
pale purple, and the heads remind one of a small 
Etoile de Ly-on. A beautiful variety is M. Albert 
Galy, with orange-crimson heads and a bright- 
y-ellow reverse, best seen in the young incurved 
florets. The plant is dwarf, as indeed is the bulk 
of the kinds under notice. 
Pompons. 
An acceleration of the flowering period is also 
noticeable amongst the new Pompons. Madame 
Gabus has been in flower for the past eight weeks, 
and has soft rose heads becoming pale or white 
at the tips of the florets with age ; it is of the same 
type as Mademoiselle Elise JDordan, but larger. 
The same may- be said of M. Bouziguet, which is 
even larger with lilac-purple florets fading with age, 
and possibly better than the last named. A beauti¬ 
ful variety is Ve. Chiquot, with average sized heads 
of a deep coppery or reddish-bronze, changing to a 
bright yellow with age and lasting a long time, 
jVIadame Edouard Lefort is a, bronzy yellow, fading 
to yellow and of great duration ; it is also fimbriated. 
M. A. Herlant is also fimbriated and resembles an 
early Black Douglas. The habit of Madame Albert 
Colmiche is slender, but the flower heads are large, 
slighly- reflexed, and of a deep cri-mson-bronze, 
tipped with yellow, more especially when old. An 
incurved variety, new last year, gives great promise. 
An early plant is beginning to show what the heads 
will be like. The upper surface of the florets is of a 
deep carmine and cerise on the reverse, while the 
breadth of the florets is another point in favour of 
the variety. 
ALLOTMENT GARDENS. 
It exhibits the love for gardening in its very best 
aspect when we see how national has become the 
demand made for allotment gardens for the working 
classes. Very daring indeed are some of the propo¬ 
sitions made, and certainly few stronger than one 
put forth in the new Corporation of Richmond on 
the Thames, that the Crown be invited to place 
thirty acres, at least, of the old Deer Park, from 
which Kew Gardens was originally taken, at the 
disposal of the Corporation for providing allotment 
gardens. It seems almost too much to assume that 
such a bold proposition will be successful, but as the 
tenancy of that large park is about to change hands 
a capital opportunity- offers to have the proposal 
accepted. 
It is a fact that a portion, though not a very large 
portion, of another Royal Park, that of Bushey, next 
Hampton Court, is to be set out as allotment 
gardens, and on the north side of Kingston a portion 
of Crown land is about to be used for a similar pur¬ 
pose. These facts show at once, not only how strong 
is the demand for allotments, but also that those in 
high places, having control of Crown lands, recog¬ 
nize their responsibilities. It will be well for the 
movement if all land owners amicably follow the 
example of the Crown, whilst wherever Crown lands 
exist working men may be encouraged to make 
application similar to those to which the Crown has 
already acceded to. None the less it is very obvious 
that no method of allotment provision can ever be 
satisfactory which omits to place absolute con¬ 
trol of allotments in the hands of public or local 
bodies. 
Whilst the landowner, great or small, may be 
willing enough to provide the land and create the 
allotments, it is very evident that tenants must 
always be subject to personal and perhaps harsh or 
autocratic control. With tenancies of such a nature 
there can be no independence, no freedom of action, 
no security of tenure, beyond what is tempered by 
personal likes and dislikes. Whilst we see the move¬ 
ment in,favour of a wider diffusion of allotments 
assuming a somewhat political character there is no 
reason why it should not be hailed by all who favour 
horticulture with satisfaction. With some political 
force behind it the movement receives an impetus 
the w-hich could never have been furnished other¬ 
wise. As gardeners w-e are glad to see any effort 
made to promote a taste for gardening in all classes 
of the community successful. 
As moralists we rejoice that the allotment effort is 
so progressive, because there can be absolutely no 
doubt that with a certain section of the community 
allotment gardens have proved to be amongst the 
best moral agencies of the day. The horticultural 
seed trade should hail the progress of the allotment 
movement with satisfaction because every fresh 
addition, if but a few rods, to the garden area of the 
Kingdom helps, if but in a small way, to expand the 
demand for seeds and plants. We may write freely 
and talk glibly about technical education in our 
counties, but every allotment garden becomes at once 
a school for technical instruction, although very 
much of that instruction is, as it were, self given. 
Probably nothing in a working man’s life helps to 
satisfy him so much as the possession of a small 
plot of land. In the vast majority of cases he has 
not a foot of soil on which he can stand and say, 
“ this, if not my freehold, is my tenancy, and for a 
time at least I cannot be dispossessed.” When, how¬ 
ever, he finds himself the occupant of, perhaps, one 
eighth, or, it may be, one fourth, or a half of an acre 
of ground to cultivate and garden, as though it were 
his ow-n, the sense of enjoyment, as well as of inde¬ 
pendence, is great, and a higher estimate of life is 
realized, even though after all in but a small way. 
—4 D. 
ROSES IN POTS, 
These are not nearly so difficult to grow well as 
many suppose ; the chief points being to avoid too 
strong a heat, and to keep the plants free from mil¬ 
dew, and injurious insects. If anyone wishes to 
have flowers by the earl}- part of January next, and 
onwards until the following April, the plants should 
still be standing in the open air. All plant life re¬ 
quires a certain amount of rest from active growth ; 
and where Roses are grown under glass and in pots, 
this is best secured to them by removing the plants 
to the open air during midsummer and autumn —a 
period when Roses are plentiful out of doors, and 
the plants can well be spared from supplying flowers 
under glass. 
Referring to the Tea-scented and Noisette classes 
of Roses, there are two distinct divisions, namely, 
those which flower freely upon the wood made the 
previous season, and those blooming at the point 
of all young growths. Most of the strong growing 
climbers, such as Marechal Niel, Reine Marie Henri- 
ette, William Allen Richardson, and Gloire de Dijon, 
belong to the first-named division, while Niphetos, 
Madame Caroline Kuster, Madame Falcot, Rubens, 
Souvenir d’un Ami, etc., belong to those which flower 
from all young growths. Now it is very necessary 
to treat these two divisions in a rational manner, 
and I propose to give a few details explaining how to 
do so. 
The strong and vigorous growers must be induced 
to make as much healthy and well-matured wood as 
possible ; because it entirely depends upon this 
whether they flower freely during the coming season 
or not. One more very important point in growing 
this division lies in their pruning. This must be 
very sparingly done ; simply tipping the shoots, or 
cutting away the few inches of immatured w-ood 
being all that is necessary. As these strong growers 
produce bloom from almost every eye upon their long 
shoots, it will be apparent to all how foolish it would 
be to prune them similar to the ordinary kinds. I 
have more than once seen people cut aw-ay these 
growths back to a few inches, and in doing so they 
have practically been cutting away " bushels of 
Roses.” 
The main point in growing these is to get the 
summer growths well matured, and this is best accom¬ 
plished by exposing them to all the sun and air 
possible after the growths have reached a good length . 
At the same time their w-ater supply must be gradu¬ 
ally w-ithheld, but never sufficiently so to cause the 
wood to shrivel or their young roots to perish. If 
these two points are secured, one never need fear of 
having a good supply of flowers from many of the 
strong growers that are often termed shy-bloomers 
by those who grow- and prune on the same system 
as the bush-growing varieties. 
For early and certain flowering no class of Roses 
can compare with a few of the climbing kinds so 
treated. After having flowered, it is advisable to cut 
away the bulk of the wood, and so throw more 
strength into the strong growths from the bottom of 
the plants, and which should be grown on as strongly 
as possible before being stood out of doors at the 
time named above, and ripened off for another 
season’s use. 
Bush-grow-ing kinds of Tea-scented or Hybrid 
Perpetual varieties require growing and ripening in 
much the same manner. The difference being that 
these do not want their flowering wood cut away as 
soon as the first crop is secured. These plants will 
continue to flow-er for some time longer ; especially 
the Tea-scented varieties, which often give six or 
seven distinct crops of bloom during the eight months 
they are in full growth. 
After ripening these, and before they are housed 
again in November, they should be pruned in the 
same manner as outdoor Roses,and the plants cut back 
to a little shape where practicable. 
Repot the Roses either just previous to their being 
started in growth or as soon as their first crop of 
bloom is past. Use good loamy soil, made fairly 
porous with coarse sand, and above all take great 
care that the pots are well drained, as the Rose likes 
a lot of w-ater, but if the soil becomes the least bit 
soddened failure is sure to result. 
Insects, green-fly, red-spider, thrip, etc., can be 
easily kept down if some of the insecticides adver¬ 
tised in your columns be used as soon as the first of 
these pests are noticed I would warn all against 
using any stronger solution than directed upon th? 
