November 30, 1895. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
209 
CROSSING CHRYSANTHEMUM 
FLOWERS. 
In performing this work, in order to do it well it is 
necessary that the flowers selected for seed bearers 
should be thoroughly isolated from other flowers, 
either from direct contact or from the visitations of 
insects, by being removed to a house in which no 
other Chrysanthemums are allowed to remain. 
Previous to doing this, with a sharp pair of scissors 
remove all the disc florets in the centre of the flower 
before they open ; these are the ones which produce 
the pollen or fecundating material, and they produce 
it very abundantly, so that if they are allowed to 
remain on the flower while the operation of impreg¬ 
nation is in progress, the chances are that the 
stigmas of the female organs of the ray florets 
will receive as much of the pollen from their own 
disc florets as they will from those of the flower 
by which they are intended to be crossed. The 
ray or petalled florets contain only rudimentary 
stamens, and are powerless to effect fertilisation. 
Next comes the disc set which has both male and 
female perfectly developed in the same tiny floret ; 
the male organs reach maturity some time in 
advance of the female. The anthers containing the 
pollen are to be found just above the corolla tube, 
and when their mission is performed they shrink and 
give place to the divided stigma which is supported 
by a very slender stalk. This shoots out from the 
tube from an eighth to a quarter of an inch. In 
order to reach the stigma of the ray florets, 
especially of those which, instead of being strap¬ 
shaped, assume the tubular form for the greater part 
of their length, the petal must be shortened to within 
a very short distance of the stigma so that it can be 
plainly seen. 
If the pollen of the male flower be plentiful, 
take the flower to be operated upon to a safe 
distance from the others, and, holding the pollen¬ 
bearing one firmly between the thumb and fore¬ 
finger in such a position that the pollen will fall 
easily on the stigmas, give the back of the fingers a 
few sharp pats, which will generally suffice. The 
operation should be done in the middle of the day 
and when the sun is shining, as then the pollen is 
very easily detached. 
Recourse to a pointed stick or small camel’s hair 
pencil should only be had when the pollen from a 
desirable flower is not procurable in large quanti¬ 
ties.— Geo. IV. Oliver, in American Gardening. 
MR. BOLITHO, MP., ON FLOWERS 
AND FRUITS. 
It has been three years since a Chrysanthemum show 
was held at PeDzance. The revival on the 8th inst. 
was a great success. Mr. T. B. Bolitho, M.P., the 
president, on opening the exhibition, made some very 
important remarks. The Chrysanthemum was not 
altogether the flower he admired, he said, and all he 
knew about it was gathered by reading the report of 
an excellent address given at Torquay by a 
gentleman who was an authority on this subject. 
He was surprised to learn that to China, not to 
Japan, we owe the introduction of the Chrysanthe¬ 
mum, and concerning the beautification and adorn¬ 
ment of this flower, and bringing out the chief points 
of merit, the authority stated that there were 
some instruments devised for that purpose, just as 
certain ladies possessed, perhaps, of many charms, 
tried to hide fheir charms by now and again a little 
bit of paint, a gentle touch of the eyelash, or a 
tincture which will perform very wonderful things. 
Nature had done a good deal for Cornwall, but in 
some parts of Devonshire many of the orchards are 
a distinct disgrace to the neighbourhood. Every¬ 
thing is followed out in a rule-of-thumb manner, and 
there appears to be little intelligence, little energy, 
and no dash, instead of going ahead little by little, 
and growing that which they can produce with great 
advantage. He liked people to have hobbies, and 
although he had little sympathy with those who gave 
hundreds of pounds for such an ephemeral produc¬ 
tion as an Orchid he liked to see money devoted to 
the cultivation of flowers.— Western Cor. 
THE SILWOOD PARK VINE. 
At Silwood Park, Sunningdale, Berks, the residence 
of T. Cordes, Esq., there is a large Black Ham¬ 
burgh Vine, computed to be about 140 years old. 
It occupies the whole of the roof of a vinery, 120 ft. 
long and 12 ft. wide, and is planted against the glass 
about half way from the either end of the house. 
The main stem or trunk is about 3 ft. high, girthing 
2 ft. 9 in., and branches into five very strong limbs, 
which again divide till they furnish eight to twelve 
rods on either side, and which are trained horizon¬ 
tally to the far ends of the house. Some of the rods 
are old and stout, while young ones are allowed to 
develop from time to time so as to keep the roof well 
furnished with good bearing wood. The vine bears 
well annually, and many of the bunches attain a 
very respectable size. About 820 to 840 bunches 
are allowed to develop to maturity, and the berries 
finish off nicely. 
When commenting upon the size and the prolific 
state of the vine, as well as its healthy and vigorous 
condition, on the occasion of a recent visit there, we 
were told by Mr. Grant, the gardener, that big 
vines in private establishments were not an unmixed 
blessing. The Grapes being all of one sort, they 
came to maturity at one time, and such an enormous 
quantity exceeded the requirements of the establish¬ 
ment, while it was useless putting them upon the 
market, owing to the low price fetched by Black 
Hamburgh. It always seems strange to us that a 
Grape of such high quality as Black Hamburgh 
should be so little appreciated by the British public. 
Mr. Grant also says that the large vine is one of 
three big ones that formerly existed at Silwood Park, 
and that two of them were destroyed to make room 
for younger ones. The bunches still hanging on the 
occasion of our visit were much larger than those 
borne by the the Hampton Court vine. 
Another vinery was occupied with fruiting vines of 
Gros Colman, bearing fine berries of large size; also 
Alicante, Madresfield Court, and Muscat of Alex- 
dria, all nicely finished. Close by was a vinery 
occupied with young canes, while the space beneath 
was devoted to Salvias and Cannas, now rapidly 
rising in favour for pot culture. The fruit had all 
been cut in the early vinery and the house mono¬ 
polised by Chrysanthemums, amongst which we 
noted Mrs. W. H Fowler, Charles Davis, V. Morel 
Madame C, Audiguier, and Empress of India, all 
grown for the sake of cut flowers. A Peach house 
was filled with later varieties. Here also we noted 
a fine batch of Capsicums in fruit. Peach trees 
occupied the back wall, as well as an arched trellis, 
conforming in some degree to the outline of the 
roof, but at 4 ft. from the glass. Well ripened wood 
and plump buds testified to the excellence of Mr. 
Grant's treatment. 
There is a fine collection of Rhododendrons here, 
including many large specimens of Countess of 
Packing Room (See p. 205). 
Parcelling Room (See p. 203). 
