280 
THE GARDENING WORLD, 
January 4, 1890. 
FROLIC)l/RWf^. 
-- 
The Yellow Carnations. 
I have followed with much interest the discussion 
which has taken place in your columns in reference to 
Mr. R. Dean’s suggestion for a classification of the 
yellow-ground Carnations on something approaching 
the lines upon which the white-ground flowers have 
been differentiated, and I fail to see why such a 
furious onslaught should have been made upon the 
writer who initiated the debate. I think with “A 
Gratified Reader” that Mr. Dean may well be thanked 
for the discussion, and I also am inclined to think that 
it has gone in a direction somewhat contrary to his 
anticipation. I think it would no more have occurred 
to Mr. Dean than it did to any other impartial reader 
of your paper, that Mr. Dodwell’s personality would 
have filled so large a place in the discussion. It has 
been made to appear as if the simple suggestion that 
some classification may be necessary, is a direct attack 
upon an individual whose dictum on any matter 
affecting the Carnation must be regarded in the light 
of infallibility. I am quite sure, from what I know of 
Mr. Dodwell, that it is far from his desire that such an 
impression should be abroad, but that it does exist I 
have no doubt. We who are Carnation lovers greatly 
esteem and venerate Mr. Dodwell, but we have no 
desire to elevate him to the position of a demi-god, 
nor to consider any expression of opinion regarding the 
Carnation, that runs counter to that believed to be 
held by Mr. Dodwell, as a kind of mortal sin. 
Now it is charged against Mr. Dean, that in 
advocating a classification of the yellow Carnations, he 
is holding by fast and rigid lines, and fettering the 
hands of the enterprising and enthusiastic florist. I 
fail to see this. If Mr. Dean had said that one half 
or more of the yellow Carnations, so called, are not 
yellow Carnations at all, and therefore not worthy of 
cultivation, and should be rejected, he would 
indeed have been disparaging the exertions of the 
raiser, and setting up hard and fast lines, unfitted in 
their application to the times in which we live. But 
if I understand him rightly, he simply announces 
that the time has come when true yellow self 
Carnations should be collected into a section, flaked 
and bizarre yellows—if any of the latter exist—into 
their sections, and those which cannot be definitely 
classified be placed under the general head of fancies. 
It is evident that Mr. Doan has breadth enough to see 
beauty in everything that can be brought under the 
head of yellow grounds. He does not propose to reject 
anything. All that he seems to contend for is that 
when yellow-ground Carnations are invited at a flower 
show, those blooms that have some claim to be regarded 
as yellows should be staged, and not, as he states, 
slaty grounds and other dull and cheerless shades of 
colour, which, as he says, would be in their proper 
places among the fancy Carnations. 
I do not see why we who live and act in the present 
day should trouble our heads much about what the 
Rev. George Jeans wrote something like forty years 
ago. I have no doubt that what he then wrote adapted 
itself to the requirements of floriculture in those days. 
Why should we be governed by the ideas of a half 
century ago ? We may just as well go back to that 
period of time for our science. Let the dead past bury 
its dead. Quotations are given from the pen of the 
Rev. Geo. Jeans, as if he had been enthroned as the 
perennial law-giver in matters floricultural. Things 
are different now to what they were then. New tastes, 
fashions, and ideas prevail, and what we, as florists, 
have to do is to adapt ourselves to the circumstances 
which form our present environment. For years past 
we had a dearth of yellow Carnations, and we were 
glad to welcome anything that could be regarded as a 
yellow. Now, thanks to the enterprise of florists at 
home and abroad, we have greatly extended the number 
of yellow Carnations in cultivation, and the question 
has occurred to some of us, Has not the time arrived 
when the yellow Carnations should be overhauled, and 
some attempt made to get them into line ? That seems 
to be an appropriate and necessary contention. 
But Mr. Dean stops at this point. He is evidently 
content to leave any attempt at classification to the 
men we regard as our leaders in the Carnation world— 
men like Mr. Dodwell, Mr. Rowan, Mr. Simonite, Mr. 
John Ball, Mr. W. Hewitt, Mr. S. Barlow, and others. 
I think the initiation of the work lies with schedule 
makers, and if properly-defined classes be set forth in 
schedules of prizes, catalogues will soon follow suit. 
We must not look to the leaders of the Carnation show 
held in connection with the Royal Horticultural Society 
to make a move. The schedule of prizes of that show 
was shaped too much in the interest of two or three of 
the largest growers in the south. There is, unfortu¬ 
nately, no hope of anything being done at Oxford, 
because Mr. Dodwell takes the lead in opposing any¬ 
thing in the way of classification. If a large-hearted 
man like Mr. Barlow would make a move in the north, 
it would tend to raise the question on to higher debate- 
able ground, and prove to be a decided gain. There is 
some talk of a Carnation show at the Royal Aquarium, 
and as the gentleman who has undertaken the superin¬ 
tendence of these has publicly invited suggestions 
towards framing schedules of prizes, something may be 
done there. Not having the advantage of his personal 
acquaintance, I am scarcely in a position to approach 
him ; but he may, perhaps, read what I have written, 
and be disposed to co-operate. 
I should have preferred to sign my name to the fore¬ 
going ; but as others choose to write anonymously, I 
will do the same, and I hope that other lovers of the 
Carnation will not hesitate to express their views on the 
matter .—Fair Play. 
Carnations: Yellows, Selfs, and Fancies. 
On p. 216 we have a most able article by Mr. R. Dean, 
on the classification of the yellow-ground Carnation, 
and I take it that this is a matter which will receive 
attention in the near future. In the same article he 
strongly advises a separate class for yellow seifs, and as 
I imagine he invites criticism, I will at once say that I 
am not altogether with him. 
The number of good seifs and fancies has increased 
so rapidly during the last few years that the question 
forced to the front more and more prominently at every 
exhibition, is whether it is not advisable to provide a 
separate class for each of these ; and if so, is it to the 
advantage of the seifs that the yellows should have a 
class of their own ? Shall we take all the sunshine from 
our self exhibits? Nothing gives so much life to a 
stand of seifs as one or two good yellows. In addition 
to Germania, there is Mrs. Martin Rowan, Edith, and 
Will Threlfall—all fine flowers, and if well grown are 
large enough for anything, and quite able to hold their 
own in the best of company. If we start with the 
yellows, we shall soon have classes for purples, whites, 
reds, and every other shade, until the very number will 
be irksome. 
Now as to fancies. This charming section—one of 
the most interesting with its diversity of colour—is 
quite strong enough to support itself without the help 
of the self, and should either of our societies think it 
worth while to give this suggestion favourable con¬ 
sideration, and provide classes for seifs and fancies, to 
be put up in a dozen of each, I think they wdll find 
that they have introduced a most popular innovation.— 
TV. L. TV., Earley, Reading. 
Auriculas under Frost. 
I have just paid a visit to my Auricula house, to find 
everything frozen hard. There is not a great deal of 
moisture in the pots to freeze, but such as there is is 
fast held in an icy grip. But there is no cause for 
fear of harm. It is true frost holds the house, but no 
freezing wind plays upon the plants, and the atmosphere 
is fairly dry. The great heart of nature will bring the 
plants unharmed through the wintry time. The plants 
are now almost entirely denuded of redundant foliage, 
and they show to view little else than plump filbert- 
like hearts. But within them there is stored up powers 
of latent force that in a few weeks will awake to action, 
which will be seen in the first indication of spring 
growth. As soon as a thaw comes, and the house can 
be thrown open and freely ventilated, the plants will 
be gone over, any dead foliage removed, the surface 
soil stirred, and the plants prepared for the spring 
movement. In six weeks’ time this force will manifest 
itself, and a resurrection of plant life will have com¬ 
menced.— R. D. 
-->*«-- 
MID-WINTER CHRYSANTHE¬ 
MUMS. 
It has now been pretty well known that for many years 
Chrysanthemums have been grown with the express 
object of extending or prolonging the season as much 
as possible at High Elms, Farnboro’, Kent, the seat of 
Sir John Lubbock, Bart., M.P. On several occasions 
we have seen them in the conservatory in mid-winter, 
but up till now, Mr. Taylor, the gardener, has kept 
them in a vinery at rest, where they can receive special 
treatment with regard to ventilation. This they could 
not receive in the conservatory, where Chinese Primulas, 
Cinerarias, Cyclamens, Richardias, and other subjects 
are in bloom. The Chrysanthemums are kept perfectly 
cool and freely ventilated on all favourable occasions, 
and look much fresher than on previous occasions when 
we have seen them. The group is quite gay, and very 
different from what is to be seen in establishments 
where Chrysanthemums are grown solely for exhibition 
purposes. About a thousand plants are grown annually, 
many of them being planted in the open border during 
summer, then lifted and potted about a month previous 
to the usual housing time. It may here be stated that 
Mr. Taylor feeds the plants very sparingly or not at 
all, because he finds the blooms of highly fed plants 
more liable to damp or to be short-lived. Those now 
in the vinery had mostly been planted out in summer, 
and appear as if they would continue to flower for weeks 
to come under the same treatment. Cut flowers con¬ 
stitute the great desideratum here, and a continuous 
supply has been kept up since the beginning of the 
season. Those who grow solely for exhibition might 
well take a hint. Some of the undermentioned kinds 
are naturally late, but a great number of them are 
mid-season varieties. 
Japanese. 
Instances of mid-season kinds now flowering are Belle 
Paule, Madame C. Audiguier, Edouard Audiguier, Peter 
the Great, Baronne de Prailly, and Carew Underwood, 
a bronze and yellow sport from that previously named, 
and at present both are well furnished with bloom. 
Madame C. Audiguier is very much inclined to sport, 
but this is more especially evident in late blooms, some 
of which are now quite reflexed. Triomphe de la Rue 
des Chalets is an early variety of a salmon-red, but at 
this season is very pale. Late varieties in fine condi¬ 
tion are Mr. Ralph Brocklebank, Golden Gem, Boule 
d’Or, Mrs. Wellam, Duchess of Albany, and Ceres, also 
known as White Ceres. The deep bronzy golden hue 
of Boule d’Or is especially noticeable. Golden Gem is 
of a golden yellow hue, but when taken off in the bud 
stage and stuck in moist soil or sand, it opens much 
shaded with orange-crimson in the centre. Mrs. 
Wellam is sulphur-white, floriferous, with long stalks 
to the blooms, and therefore highly suitable for cut- 
flower purposes. If grown for exhibition, the crown 
bud of Ceres must be taken, otherwise it would be too 
late even in the south. 
Mons. Freeman is an early kind, and at present the 
blooms are rosy purple and reflexed, instead of being of 
a pale rose with a silvery reverse, and horizontal. 
Mons. Lemoine is a buff variety shaded red ; Fulton, 
golden yellow, like Sunflower, and floriferous; 
Gloriosum, free and useful for late work ; a rich dark 
purple here is named Butes des Jardins. Macaulay, 
with yellow heads like cut Endive, is reputed to be of 
weak constitution, but is not so unless highly fed. 
Other Yarieties. 
The ranks of the incurved kinds are generally pretty 
much decimated at this season of the year, but a few 
here are still in fine condition, particularly Lady Slade 
and Angelina. The latter is an amber and orange 
shaded sport from the former, and is sometimes named 
President Sanderson. The Golden John Salter is of a 
golden amber hue. Another late sort is Mrs. Halli¬ 
burton, sulphur-white, but now tinted with pink, 
owing, probably, to a cool atmosphere. 
Reflexed varieties seem to keep well, for the Pink 
Christine is now of great size and in fine condition. 
Boule de Neige is notable for the quantity of white 
bloom it produces, and the black scales of the bud 
often showing through the florets in the small side 
flower-buds. The scented Progne and King of 
Crimsons are as rich in hue as in autumn. The 
guard florets of the Japanese Anemone, Fabian de 
Mediana, are so curiously twisted as to resemble cut 
paper. The white heads of Miss Margaret (Anemone) 
are beautiful and fresh, as are those of Marguerite de 
York, with its numerous soft yellow ray florets and 
darker disc. The latter is also known as Sunflower, 
but is quite different from the Japanese kind of that 
name. Amongst Pompons, St. Michael is noticeable 
on account of its sprays of golden yellow flowers. 
Dick Turpin is a Pompon Anemone, with deep parple 
rays fading to white at the base, and a yellow 
disc. 
-o-X<-- 
CHRYSANTHEMUM NOTES. 
Spoiling the “Mums.” 
Your leader on the subject of spoiling the “Mum,” at 
p. 244, I read with some interest. The way in which 
splendid blooms of large Japanese Chrysanthemums are 
staged on show boards with tubes not sufficiently wide 
apart is extremely ugly. The flowers are all jammed 
together as close as can be, the petals of some crushing 
