February 13, 1892. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
371 
enthusiasm when you partly or wholly overcome 
them. 
Now I will say a few words to you upon the culti¬ 
vation of these flowers, more especially connected 
with the difficulties I have spoken of. Amateurs 
generally make one or two mistakes at starting. 
First, in respect to the varieties they grow ; instead 
of trying to find out what will suit the conditions 
under which the} - are able to grow them, the)' gener¬ 
ally visit some large show and take down the names 
of the leading prize-winner’s blooms. There is no 
harm in trying many of these varieties where you 
have taken a special liking or fancy to them, but 
when you come to find out the extraordinary means 
often taken to get some of these blooms, and that 
under the most favourable circumstances, you will 
fight shy of risking your time for nothing on many 
of them. I have known a fine flower shown on some 
particular stand of a variety that has perhaps been 
in cultivation for years, but only now and then is a 
good bloom seen ; that one good bloom has set every 
one growing this variety again. Next season perhaps 
hundreds of plants are grown, and yet not a solitary 
flower of it will be seen at the shows. Now amateurs 
cannot afford to waste time and space on a sort of 
speculation. If, therefore, you can learn something 
of the varieties before you procure them, you may 
often avoid being disappointed. There are plenty of 
experienced growers whom you may meet at shows 
who will willingly give any information if asked. I 
am not speaking to you without having over and over 
again witnessed disappoinment from the cause I 
have mentioned. In my business I am asked, I may 
say every day, by amateurs for varieties I know they 
cannot be successful with. 
I cannot give you very full directions in making 
choice of the plants you would grow, but I wiil give 
you a few hints. If you wish to grow incurved 
Chrysanthemums, do not rely upon the largest varie¬ 
ties too much. What we call the Queens, that is 
Queen of England, Empress of India, etc., never 
make good solid flowers unless well grown. It looks 
very bad on a board to see a big flower which, instead 
of being cupped and incurved, has a hollow centre 
and the flower flat with florets reflexing. Again, 
there is what we call the Princess family—Princess 
of Wales, Mrs. Heale, Violet Tomlin, etc.; these re¬ 
quire very high cultivation to secure good blooms. 
There are a large number of incurved varieties, and 
good old varieties they are, that you may nearly 
always be successful with ; they are not only easy to 
bloom but of good habit and dwarf growing. Among 
these are Lady Harding, Mrs. Shipman, Barbara, 
Mr. Bunn, Beverley, Prince of Wales, Antonette, 
Prince Alfred, Lady Slade, Eve, and Mabel Ward. 
Turning to the Japanese section, I would divide 
them into two classes, single and double flowers, the 
singles comprise many of the very largest varieties, 
Boule d’or, Edwin Molyneux, Mrs. Wheeler, Comte 
de Germiny, Beauty of Castlewood, and Mrs. F. 
Jameson. If you attempt to grow any of these, you 
will generally find them come with hollow centres, 
especially if we grow them on to what we call the 
terminal flower; that is to say the flowers that 
would come if left to bloom naturally. Now to get 
the fine flowers of these varieties that we see at the 
shows, we have to cultivate them, so that they 
become double ; instead of letting them go on to the 
terminal bud, we cut short the plant’s growth, and 
do what we call securing the crown bud. Now if 
the plant has previously been well grown so that it 
has become well matured, all the growth that we 
have cut short will be converted into florets and the 
flower becomes double, but it will only do this under 
exceptionally good cultivation, such as few of you are 
able to give in your small gardens. You will under¬ 
stand, then, why such varieties as I have mentioned, 
always come with what you call a big eye, or what I 
call single flowers. My advice is to avoid all 
varieties that have this tendency, for you will rarely 
ever succeed with them. 
Double flowers are those that no matter what bud 
you take them on, or how many blooms you grow, 
even the small side shoots come double, that is well 
filled up flowers, with florets to the centre. You 
will find this in such varieties as Mdlle. Lacroix, 
Madame de Sevin, Val d’Andorre, La Triomphante, 
Duke of Berwick, Margot, and in many of the more 
recent novelties, such as the beautiful Viviand 
Morel, Miss Anna Hartzhorn and Florence 
Davis, really good double flowers, which are all easy 
to grow, 
Another very great mistake which many amateurs 
make, is attempting to grow more plants than they 
have room for ; nothing invites failure sooner than 
this. Each plant must have a certain amount of 
space to grow, so that it may obtain the necessary- 
amount of air and light. If you give one plant plenty 
of space you may get three or four good blooms ; put 
two plants in the same space, they will grow more 
spindly, and the blooms will be smaller ; and if you 
can manage to squeeze three plants in, most pro¬ 
bably you will get no bloom at all. And you often 
find that those who grow the least number of plants 
are the most successful in exhibiting. 
A third mistake I would draw your attention to, 
and that is over-feeding, plants must not be starved 
any more than ourselves; but we are too apt to take 
instructions from those who speak from the pro¬ 
fessional grower's point of view. The amount of food 
his strong plants will take would act as poison to the 
general run of plants grown in the confined space of 
small gardens. I have always cautioned amateurs 
against much feeding. Chrysanthemums do not 
want the amount of food many of our writers on the 
subject insist on. Give them good soil of loam, 
manure and grit to start with, and only re-pot when 
the plants absolutely require it irrespective of dates 
and seasons ; and then gently feed with liquid 
manure. When the plant’s growth is finished, and you 
find the pots full of roots, then you will find the 
plants greatly benefited. 
With the. careful selection of varieties, confining 
yourself to only as many plants as you can properly 
grow and attend to, giving them good honest 
bread and cheese, instead of gorging them with 
rich-pastry, and you will overcome most of your 
difficulties. 
GARDENERS’ ORPHAN 
FUND. 
The annual general meeting of the subscribers to 
this charity was held at the Cannon Street Hotel, 
on the 5th inst., Mr. William Marshall presiding. 
The committee, in their report, congratulated the 
subscribers on the growing importance of the fund 
to the gardening community, as testified by the 
generous support it continued to receive from all 
classes. The proposal made by Mr. N. N. Sherwood 
and Mr. H. J. Veitch at the last general meeting : 
That, if the subscribers would contribute a minimum 
sum of £250, they would jointly provide any further 
sum that might be required to allow the committee 
to place on the fund the seven children who had 
that day been unsuccessful, as a memorial to the 
late chairman, Mr. George Deal, was readily 
accepted by the committee. The sum of 
£555 l6s - 6d. was speedily raised, enabling the 
committee to grant the benefits of the fund to seven 
orphans. The lamented death of Mr. B. S. 
Williams, a warm supporter of the fund, called 
forth a very general desire that his honoured name 
should also be associated with the fund in a similar 
manner, and, on receipt of £250 from the Memorial 
Trustees, two more children, on the nomination of 
Mr. H. Williams, were elected. The committee 
greatly regretted that they were unable to arrange 
for a floral fete in Covent Garden Market as in 
former years, owing to practical difficulties in carry¬ 
ing them out. The loss thus sustained was in a 
great measure compensated for by a generous 
subscription raised by the standholders in the market 
and by the profits arising from the Rose Fair and 
Floral Fete held at the Crystal Palace. The 
desirability of establishing this fete at the Crystal 
Palace as an annual event was under the considera¬ 
tion of the committee The national card collection 
which was instituted in the summer of last year, 
resulted in adding the handsome sum of £250 to the 
resources of the fund. This collection, it was 
proposed, should be continued annually. At the 
present time 39 children were receiving the benefits 
of the fund, and the committee recommended that 
11 be elected that day, thus raising the number of 
beneficiaries to 50, who would be supported by the 
fund at a cost of £650 a-year. 
The Chairman, in moving the adoption" of the re¬ 
port and the annexed statement of accounts, pointed 
out that eighteen months had elapsed since the last 
report and statement of accounts was issued, owing 
to the alterations made in the rules twelve months 
ago, which provided for the commencement of the 
financial year being altered from July 1st to 
January 1st. But he was glad to report that, 
although the accounts included the working expenses 
of eighteen months, and the subscriptions practically 
only for the twelve months, there had been no 
diminution of revenue, but, on the contrary, a con¬ 
siderable increase. Their receipts for the eighteen 
months amounted to £2,594 17s. 4d., which was 
most satisfactory, even allowing for the extra six 
months. Their nearest approach to it was in 
1888-9, when the receipts amounted to £1,976 3s. yd. 
As regards the financial position of the fund he 
might say that during the four and a half years it 
had been in existence they had received over £8,000, 
of which sum they had now invested and in hand 
£5,786 3s. 8d. Of that sum they were liable 
to thirty-nine children to the extent of £3,118, 
leaving a balance of £2,668 3s. 8d. to meet 
their liability to the children whom they wished 
to elect that day. On the whole he thought 
the committee had had a very successful year 
indeed, and the alteration in the date of the 
commencement of the financial year had acted ex¬ 
ceedingly well. Mr. H. J. Veitch seconded the 
motion, which was carried unanimously. 
The retiring officers were unanimously re-elected 
as follows:—Mr. T. B. Haywood, treasurer; Mr. 
W. Sharp, auditor; Messrs. J. Assbee, H. Cannell, 
G. W. Cummins, G. Gordon, F. Q. Lane, W. 
Roupell, C. H. Sharman, and B. Wynne, members 
of the committee ; and Mr. A. F. Barron as honorary 
secretary. 
Mr. R. Dean and Mr. B. Wynne were elected 
scrutineers, and at the close of the poll the eleven 
successful candidates were declared to be—Mary 
Esther Green (272), Thomas James Francis (259), 
Charles Newrey Wasley (244), Annie Parker (216), 
Edward William Butcher (163), John Ernest Vine 
(141), Agnes Jane McIntosh (137), Edmund Norgate 
(129), James Alfred Bolton (122), Janet Hood 
Ireland (99), and Olive Hall (90). A cordial vote of 
thanks to the chairman and scrutineers brought the 
proceedings to a close. 
GARDENERS’ ORPHAN FUND.—CASH STATEMENT, JULY ist, 1890, TO DECEMBER 31ST 1S91. 
RECEIPTS. 
To Balance from last Account. . 
Subscriptions, General . £359 1° 6 
’’ Ditto collected by Local Secs. 130 7 6 
,, Donations, General. 332 19 2 
Ditto collected by Local Secs. 117 4 2 
The George Deal Memorial. 
”, The B. S. Williams Memorial . 
” General Card Collection . 
Crystal Palace Fete . 
Annual Dinner ... _ ... . 
Advertisements in List of Subscribers . 
Miscellaneous Receipts ... ... ... 
„ Dividends on Stock and Interest on Deposit ... 
£ s. d. 
807 8 11 
4Sg 18 0 
250 o o 
29+ 7 3 
129 3 3 
67 15 6 
31 2 o 
52 14 4 
373 37 2 
£3,302 6 3 
EXPENDITURE. 
Allowances to Orphans . 
General Card Collection . 
Crystal Palace Fete . 
Annual Dinner. 
Printing List of Subscribers. 
Secretary's Clerk . 
Printing and Stationery . 
General Meetings (2) and Election... 
Hire of Rooms for Meetings. 
Postage . 
Bank Charges. 
Sundry Expenses (Petty Cash) 
Purchase of £517 8s. gd.. 2j°/ 0 Stock 500 o 0 
Ditto £500. 2j°/ a Stock ... 475 0 6 
On Deposit with Bankers .. 
Balance at Bank ... .. 
£7S 15 
46 12 
16 12 
S 2 
23 O 
I 14 
14II 
£ s. d. 
695 10 o 
44 5 2 
9 ° 2 3 
54 1 8 
24 0 0 
1S9 7 7 
975 o 6 
600 o o 
629 19 I 
£3.302 6 3 
Note:—Investments, etc, 
ti°U Consols. ... £ 4 i° 5 ® 4 7 
3 Canadian Stock ... „. 5 °° 0 0 
£ 4.556 4 7 
On Deposit with Bankers ... 600 o o 
£5.156 4 7 
Having inspected the Securities, and examined the Books and 
Vouchers supplied to us, we certify the above account to be 
correct. 
igned) JOHN FRASER, Lea Bridge . 
WM. SHARP, Chartered Accountant,. 
£ — G ..rtcV. n rr. C trfiAt F G 
Dated January xSth, 1892, 
A ndltors. 
