294 
January 6, 1894. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
GRAFTING CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 
I WROTE last year :—" What will happen the .second 
year to grafted plants after having flowered ? That 
is the secret to come. I incline to believe that they 
shoot out again and flower afresh. All those that I 
preserve emit immediately above the graft buds 
absolutely analagous to those which arise at the 
base of the Chrysanthemum after flowering. These 
shoots profiting from the juice of Chrysanthemum 
frutescens ought, we think, to develop normally. 
We shall speak of it next year.” 
The experiment was reviewed to-day, and I can 
say that it exceeded my expectation. These plants 
showed themselves more vigorous the second year 
than the first, and their flowers have been larger 
and more beautiful. The third year announces 
exactly what was said of the second. Alreatiy the 
new buds show themselves above the graft, in the 
same conditions as stated in the lines cited above. 
The Chrysanthemum grafted upon the shrubby 
species above mentioned is then an evergreen plant. 
From this point of view the graft presents evident 
advantages. The effort made to obtain a good 
specimen is not lost at the end of the year. It has 
not to be all done over again. The result acquired 
remains. 
The method to pursue to assure the result is very 
simple. It is not necessary to make haste to prune 
the plants after flowering. One can cut the flowers 
if he likes to make bouquets, but it is convenient to 
leave above the graft a portion of the stem provided 
with foliage, so as to assure the continuation of life 
in the plant. When pruning shorter, see that the 
sap has found another outlet. It continues in effect 
to rise in the stems of the stock. The latter with 
diflSculty emits buds on the wood ; it pursues its 
ascent until it encounters the graft. It then passes 
into the Chrysanthemum, and immediately above 
the graft it passes into large buds which grow 
rapidly. It is only when those have acquired a 
sufficient development that it is time to prune the 
Chrysanthemum at 2 in. to 3 in. above the buds. It 
may happen that these buds show themselves at the 
time above the graft and higher up the stem. It is 
obligatory to suppress those which develop higher 
up, for example, more than 6 in. above the graft. 
If the new growths delay in showing themselves, a 
little heat will put the sap of the stock in rapid 
movement, and they will be seen to appear. When 
the pruning has been accomplished and the buds are 
very vigorous, the plant having become too large is 
taken from its pot. The ball is divested of some of the 
soil used, and it is placed in a smaller pot with good 
substantial soil, such as is prepared for Chrysanthe¬ 
mums that have not been grafted. All these opera¬ 
tions are naturally done during winter, that is to say 
in a greenhouse. In proportion as the plant grows, 
it is repotted and pinched. The form is also cared 
for by the aid of guards and supports, and feeding 
is given abundantly .—Alexis Callier, in Revue de 
I'Horticidture Beige. 
Accompanying the above description is an illustra¬ 
tion of Chrysanthemum Val d’Andorre, grafted on 
C. frutescens, the ordinary Marguerite which the 
French speak of under the name of Anthemis. The 
plant in question was grown in a tub and trained in 
such a fashion as to form a round-headed or domed 
mound. It measured between 8 ft. and 9 ft. in 
diameter, and stood clear of the tub, but had only a 
very short stem. The cultivator himself is shown 
sitting under the plant, which bore 790 fully 
expanded though not large flowers. The grower 
exhibited the plant at Ghent, and had great difficulty 
in getting it through the doorway. At that time it 
had only been seven months old from the grafting, 
and 120 grafts had been put upon the stock to form 
the plant. 
THE “RED WOOD” IN AYRSHIRE. 
We meet at times with great surprises. I had one 
to-day. I knew that the ‘‘Red Wood" (Sequoia 
sempervirens) is one of the most remarkable trees in 
the world, almost as much so as its somewhat more 
giant mountain brother, the " Big Tree ” of America 
—Sequoia (Wellingionia) gigantea. In California I 
had gone a considerable distance to visit a “ Red 
Wood” grove. In this country I had been much 
interested in seeing, twenty years ago, a small speci¬ 
men of the tree in Inveraray Castle grounds. (Is it 
still alive, and is it thriving?) What a surprise then 
I had to-day. Along with two of my sons, who are 
medical students, I was passing Milrig House, 
Galston, when one of them, pointing to some dis¬ 
tance, said—"What tree is that?” I looked only 
at the leaves and branches, and thought first it was 
a Yew, and next that it was an Abies Albertiana. 
We went to it. Its trunk was clothed, to the thick¬ 
ness of 2 in. or 3 in., with a strange sponge-like 
bark of a reddish-brown colour. Tnere is only one 
tree in the world that has this bark, the famous 
" Red Wood ” (Sequoia sempervirens) of California. 
Yet I could scarcely believe that it was it. The 
gardener now came up, and I said—“ You did not 
tell me of such a wonder as this.” He replied— 
" I followed you to do so.” From him I learned 
that it was planted about fifty-four years ago, and 
had suffered considerably some years since, but it 
was now recovered. It is fully 40 ft. high, and, at 
the heiiht of 5 ft. from the ground, the trunk is 5 ft. 
4 in. in girth. The spot where it grows is perfectly 
sheltered on the north and east, and, while sheltered, 
is yet open to the south-east, south, and south-west. 
A magnificent standard Garrya, covered with long 
pendulous spikes of flowers, grows beside it. There 
are also large Rhododendrons, and among them one 
of the true Tree Rhododendrons of India ; but these, 
in rarity, are nothing to the " Red Wood.” Mr. 
Paxton must add another to his very perfect platino- 
types of the "Remarkable Trees of Ayrshire,” 
though it can scarcely be in time for this year’s 
exhibition in the Art Gallery. I have a beautiful 
"Red Wood” Cup, the gift of a relative in Cali¬ 
fornia.— Rev. D.Landsborough, in Kilmarnock Standard. 
->•*-■- 
CHRYSANTHEMUM COLOURS UNDER 
ARTIFICIAL LIGHT. 
As the Chrysanthemum when " on duty ” is mostly 
seen after sundown under artificial light, it is inter¬ 
esting to note its colours, which in a number of cases 
undergo a radical change—and I may add for the 
better. 
The daylight magenta tones are almost obliterated 
under incandescent electric light ; I am sorry for 
this, as magenta is a lovely colour which we neither 
appreciate nor treat properly in conjunction with 
other commoner hues. But if magenta fails at night, 
yellow, orange, red, and pink do not. The effect 
under artificial light of a grand exhibition of large 
Chrysanthemums is more beautiful than in daylight; 
but every vestige of blue goes under the yellowish 
light, and a great deal of the yellow goes along viith 
it. 
One would naturally suppose that a yellow 
light on yellow colour would make the latter 
look yellower; as a matter of fact it does; 
but facts and appearances are two very different 
things in regard to colour. The yellow Chrysanthe¬ 
mum in order to prove itself yellower under yellow 
light must have completely black surroundings, 
devoid of any light except that thrown on the flower, 
or else pure white light must illuminate everything 
else. 
Now, both of these conditions in the natural 
course of things are practically impossible ; conse¬ 
quently the actual truth of colour is overpowered by 
reverse appearances. Yellow light is thrown on 
everything; we entirely forget what white light is 
(at least our eyes do), and, as a natural result, a 
good deal of yellow stands for white. We know how 
common the remark is, " That will look a great deal 
yellower in the daytime.” Such a remark is equiva¬ 
lent to the admission that we mistake considerable 
yellow for white at evening light. 
Notwithstanding this admitted loss of colour some¬ 
how the yellow chrysanthemum is prettier under 
gas-light. We also forget the variety and play of colour 
in daylight among the red flowers which are more 
or less influenced with blue, and are only conscibus 
of the fact that the reds are more brilliant when the 
gas is lit. Orange is also a colour greatly enhanced 
by yellow. 
In a word, the whole tone of the Chrysanthemum 
show has undergone a change when the evening 
lights are on. We feel this without exactly being 
able to account for it. This difference consists in 
just these two facts ; at night every colour becomes 
soft and brilliant, but loses in variety of tone ; in 
daytime every particular tint asserts its separate 
individuality, but there is a coldness in its appear¬ 
ance accounted for by the fact that blue is exerting 
an influence, although not actually present in pro¬ 
nounced form.— F. Schuyler Mathews, in American 
Florist. 
Gardening Hiscellany. 
ANTHURIUM VVILLIAMSIl. 
The above name applies to a f irm of Anthurium 
Scherzerianum, having a white spathe and a deep 
yellow curved spadix. Closely allied to this is 
another form named A. Duvivierianum, which is 
said to produce larger spathes, and the spadix is 
sometimes fasciated or greatly thickened. Another 
difference, however, miy be determined, namely, 
that the base of the spathe has a pink or purplish 
ring surrounding the spadix. Whichever of them 
is grown, their white spathes will be seen to best 
advantage by contrast with the ordinary scarlet 
form. The plant remains in bloom for many months, 
and only in the last stages of decay does the spathe 
change to a yellowish hue. The plant is sometimes 
grown under the name of A. Scherzerianum album. 
Both of the above forms may be seen in the nursery 
of Messrs. B. S. Williams & Son, Upper Holloway. 
Those who have not yet attempted to grow th-se 
noble stove subjects, will find a suitable compost in 
peat, loam, sphagnum, and nodules of charcoal with 
sufficient silver sand to keep the whole in an open 
and porous condition. They delight in liberal 
supplies of moisture during the growing season, but 
that should not be in a stagnant condition, otherwise 
the strong roots will soon perish, To aid the 
porosity of the soil plenty of fibrous matter must be 
contained in the peat and loam. The crown of the 
plant should be kept well above the rim of the pot, 
so that when the material has well sunk down it 
may still be 2 in. to 3 in. above the rim of the pot. 
The plants may be kept in a temperature of 60° 
during winter, but when making their growth at 
least 10° higher during the night is required. In 
summer an abundance of moisture will be necessary, 
both in the atmosphere and at the roots. 
THE PLANT OF MERRIMENT. 
Homer speaks, in the Odyssey, Book IV., 219— 
223, of a plant which has the property of calming 
anxiety and grief, and of effacing the remembrance 
of all pain. "When one has tasted of its wine,” 
says he, " for a whole day one is assured that 
not a tear will come upon his visage.” Pausanias 
also speaks to him of a plant which grows in the 
Isle of Sardis, and which has the property of 
making those laugh who swallow some of the 
root of it. That plant, says the Revue de 
VHorticulture Beige, which assures merriment and 
happiness, has been found at last. It is the Ranun¬ 
culus bulbosus of Linnaeus, a plant in fact extremely 
poisonous, but which contracts the muscles of the 
mouth, in such a way, that those who have swallowed 
some of it have the appearance of bursting out with 
laughter, even if the poison of the plant is on the 
way to kill them. 
WINTER HELIOTROPE. 
The natural home of Petasites fragrans, popularly 
known as Winter Heliotrope and Cherry Pie, is 
South-Western Europe, from whence it was intro¬ 
duced in 1806. Our native species, P. vulgaris, 
flowers in March, and sometimes has difficulty even 
then in exposed positions to make anything like a 
good display during the prevalence of cold east 
winds, P. fragrans naturally flowers earlier, 
generally about February, but in mild seasons like 
the present it is in full bloom by Christmas. The 
flowers at present are as fresh as they could be in 
May, and exhale an agreeable perfume which has 
not inaptly been compared to that of the Heliotrope. 
The occurrence of severe frost is, however, sufficient 
to destroy both the flowers and the yflung leaves—a 
loss which is readily repaired when the plant com¬ 
mences to grow in spring. It is well adapted for 
growing in half shaded and out-of-the-way positions, 
where few other herbaceous subjects would give 
satisfaction. Then seeing that its fragrant flowers 
may often be had in midwinter, it well deserves 
cultivation. The flower stems may be cut, taken 
indoors, and placed in water either by themselves or 
in mixture with other things. A small piece planted 
in a suitable position and left to take care of itself 
will soon cover a considerable area, provided there 
is room for it to spread. For that reason it should 
be planted where no low growing subjects will be 
overrun by its creeping underground stems. 
