December 29, 1894. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
277 
Where specimen plants again are required for the 
decoration of the dinner table, the pots have, as a 
rule, to be encased in ornamental vases of various 
kinds. Now if the pot in which the plant is growing 
is of the large size so commonly used, one of two 
alternatives must be adopted ; either to knock the 
plants out of their pots and temporarily place them 
in the ornamental vases, or else encase the large 
pots in still larger vases with a reckless disregard to 
the rules of proportion. Needless to say, both these 
systems are faulty, the latter one, of course, from its 
unsightliness, and the former from the reason that 
to knock the plants out of their pots in such a man¬ 
ner cannot fail to be injurious to them in a greater 
or less degree, a severe strain being thereby occa¬ 
sioned upon the resources of the department of 
supply to furnish sufficient decorative material, 
unless, of course, expense is no object, and the gar¬ 
dener is able to order what plants he wants from his 
nurseryman regardless of cost. 
Establishments where this is practicable are, 
however, comparatively few in number, and are even 
now decreasing year by year. It becomes therefore 
a matter of importance to find out the best method 
of obviating this evil, and the remedy we would 
suggest is, “use smaller pots.” It is a great mistake 
to suppose that all plants need such large pots. 
With many fine decorative subjects, palms partic¬ 
ularly, large pots are most decidedly not an essential 
to the health, and well being of the plant. We have 
known specimens of Phoenix rupicola with fronds of 
that rich dark green hue so dear to the heart of every 
plant grower, which, when turned out of the exceed¬ 
ingly small pots in which they had been growing so 
well, proved to be nothing but a mass of roots, with 
scarcely a vestige of soil in the whole of the ball, 
all they appear to need is a sufficiency of water, and 
given this, they will grow away without complaining. 
In potting good turfy loam should be used to 
which may be added a little leaf soil, some sharp 
sand, and a few pieces of charcoal. The compost 
should be closely packed around the roots and 
rammed firmly. One good potting of this Lind will 
last most of the palms for several years. Stimulation 
may be given by application of manure. We have 
used “nitrate of soda,” with the best of results, and 
consider it to be a manure of first-class merit. The 
good it does, soon becomes evident after its applica¬ 
tion and starved yellow looking plants will recover 
themselves in a manner that almost appears 
miraculous, so rapidly is the change effected. But 
like other chemical manures it must be given with 
greatest of care and its application should never be 
intrusted to the hands of an inexperienced person, or 
harm instead of good will most likely be the result. 
A small pinch may be scattered over the surface of 
the soil, and repeated at intervals of from eight to 
ten days according to the individual health and 
vigour of the plants, throughout the growing 
season. 
With regard to the most suitable plants to grow, 
it is manifest that from the hundreds of the species 
comprising the natural order Palmae, the list might 
be made to assume gigantic proportions. A number 
of kinds have however, become very popular as 
decorative subjects, by no means the least important 
among them being the prettty Cocos Weddelliana, 
thousands of which are used each year for decora¬ 
tive purposes. Indeed it is passing strange where 
all this annual supply of material is stowed away, at 
any rate the demand seems at present to show no 
signs of decreasing. Howea (Kentia) Fosteriana, 
H. australis and H. Belmoreana are also grown in 
large quantities, as well as Acanthophoenix Cun- 
ninghamiana or as it is popularly called Seaforthia 
elegans. This last mentioned plant is of free 
growing habit, and may often be met with in 
our greenhouses and conservatories, with its graceful 
plumy head supported upon the tall straight stem so 
common to the members of this genus. Livistona 
chinensis is also widely known in gardens under the 
name of Latania borbonica. It is usually of 
dwarfish spreading habit, and its fan shaped fronds 
attain to a considerable size. Phoenix rupicola, P. 
canariensis and P. reclinata, are all pretty widely 
distributed, not so however, the Caryotas so unique 
in habit amongst their fellow members of Palmae 
for their bi-pinnate leaves. C. urens, C. Cumingii 
and C. sobilifera, are all handsome plants of noble 
habit and exceedingly beautiful appearance, and as 
such worthy of more extensive cultivation than they 
at present enjoy.— Phoenix. 
Variety. 
Variety. 
Classed in 
Catalogue 
of N.C.S. 
W. H. Wellamj 
syn. Spiralis • 
syn. Marvel > 
Moonlight ...Jap., and Yellow Dragon 
Avalanche ...Jap., and]. Delaux 
Lord Brooke ... Jap. Inc., and E. Molyneux . 
Jap. 
and M, Astorg 
CLASSIFICATION OF THE 
CHRYSANTHEMUM. 
Bv H. Briscoe-Ironside. 
(Concluded from page 268.) 
Section IV.— Japanese Reflexed. 
Characteristics or accepted type Elaine with flat, 
straight spreading or reflexed florets, etc. Now, I 
think it is to be regretted that we have three sections 
for Japanese, as the classification seems to me even 
more difficult, certainly as inconsistent, as the 
incurved section I. 
There are, comparatively speaking, few Japanese 
that do not either reflex or incurve in some way or 
other; and I would ask you, Sir, if Boule d’Or, 
E. Molyneux, Yellow Dragon, and Stanstead White, 
be correctly classified as Japanese incurved (see 
italics), and Val d’Andorre—and I will be so bold as 
to take the official typical flower Elaine as Japanese 
reflexed—what should remain, except, perhaps, a few 
stiff or erect-petalled varieties, to be classified under 
the principal section II. Japanese ? What prevents 
flowers such as Etoile de Lyon, Carew Underwood, 
etc., from being classed as Japanese reflexed? I fail 
to comprehend where the Japanese reflexed class 
begins and ends ; also the Japanese incurved section, 
if it be not confined strictly to the Lord Brooke or 
Louise type. 
Let me make a few comparisons as illustrating the 
inconsistency that I think is seen in these three sec¬ 
tions :— 
Classed in 
Catalogue 
of N.C.S. 
... Jap. Ref. 
... Jap. Inc. 
... Jap. Ref. 
, _ . ... Jap. Inc. 
W. H. Lincoln ... Jap. Inc., and Comte de Germiny ... Jap. Inc. 
I do not wish to be too severely held to these 
few selections, as they have been made somewhat 
hurriedly, but I think they should serve to show my 
meaning. I will now proceed to 
Section V. —Reflexed. 
The characteristics are well defined, and liberties in 
introducing new varieties into this section cannot so 
easily be taken as in some of the other sections. 
They are flowers not much encouraged at the present 
time, and evidently possess too much character for 
the cultivator as, unlike the Japanese, they do not 
covet greatness, and refuse to have greatness thrust 
upon them. 
Raisers seem to pay but little attention to them, 
probably due to the fact that unless the Dr. Sharpe 
type is obtained, there is uncertainty in classification 
as, for instance, Amy Furze, classed as a Japanese 
reflexed, but which is, nevertheless, occasionally 
allowed in reflexed stands ; and for this reason I 
should like to see a broader line drawn between 
reflexed and Japanese reflexed. 
It is admitted that the majority classed under this 
section are too flat, and there can be no difference of 
opinion on this point. If the Rowers should be perfectly 
circular in outline, why, then, are such varieties 
classed under the section ? 
Section VI.— Large Anemones, 
AND 
Section VII.— Japanese Anemones 
might, I think, serve under one Section. These 
flowers are now being grown as large as possible, 
and to the deprivation, in my opinion, of some of 
their beautiful characteristics. 
To my mind an Anemone with a full and high 
disc surrounded with medium-sized petals is to be 
preferred to one with a small and flat disc, having 
large and course ray petals, conveying the idea as it 
were of an old-fashioned jam tart with its barrenness 
ofjaminthe centre. Also, a type such as Fabian 
de Mediana when frequently exhibited as it is with 
little or no disc (in one large bloom of this variety 
shewn this year there was no trace of a disc) must 
be surely verging on the border line. I am the 
more convinced that this is really the case, as I 
have a pure white seedling of this variety, identical 
in foliage with the parent (which, as we all know, is 
somewhat conspicuous in this respect) and similar 
in every other way, but no practical disc have I yet 
seen in any of its blooms. 
Section VIII,— Pompons. 
Characteristics are small blooms averaging ij in. 
diameter, dwarf growth, neatness and compactness 
and 
Section IX.— Pompon Anemones. 
I would like to see these two sections embodied in 
one with a part of the next section also, but I will 
refer to this latter presently. Now how often do 
exhibitors abuse these two sections in trying for size ? 
yet it is always refreshing to find that the judges, 
with but rare exceptions, strictly adhere to the 
characteristics mentioned. Frequently have I seen 
Pompons exhibited which, had they been new 
varieties, might have been almost classed under the 
reflexed section or regarded as unclassifiable. 
There is not, however, so much scope for differ¬ 
ences of opinion in the classification under these two 
sections, as the Floral Committee of the National 
Chrysanthemum Society, when considering new 
Pompons, prefer to see them in bunches not dis¬ 
budded, and moreover size here is a distinct dis¬ 
advantage. We now come to the last section, 
viz. :— 
Section X. —Singles. 
Characteristics, any size and form, but they 
should not contain more than a double row of ray 
florets or disc florets of sufficient length to form a 
raised disc or cushion as in the case of the Anemone 
blooms, etc. 
I shall venture to disagree with these character¬ 
istics as I think it would be more satisfactory, if for 
“ double row of ray florets," “ single row, etc.,” were 
substituted, and after “ ray florets ” the meaning is 
not clear to me. I may state that I and others 
could introduce several new varieties having a 
double row of petals only, and good discs, and when 
grown on the terminals still more characteristic, and 
any question on the score of having too many petals 
the tweezers would speedily determine without 
detection. 
Now I think this is the very flower to be avoided, 
and, in my humble opinion, a single Chrysanthemum, 
however cultivated, should not develop with more 
than one single row of petals. Admiral Symonds, 
although a most useful flower for cutting and a 
splendid colour is, in my eyes, a great offender of 
what I think should be typical of this section. I saw 
a bloom of Purity exhibited this year with at least 
three rows of petals ! When it is considered how 
many seedlings are discarded in consequence of their 
semi-doubleness it seems to me that this section 
might in conformity with the official characteristics 
be filled to overflowing in a short space of time, and 
that this is not so already is probably due to the 
possessors of such flowers not themselves consider¬ 
ing them true singles. Sunset, introduced a few 
years ago, and considered by some a Japanese, and 
which I cannot find catalogued, could I take it be 
classed a single. 
It must have been apparent to those who saw the 
exhibits of this section at the last December 
Exhibition of the National Chrysanthemum Society 
that, to give satisfaction to every one in the judging 
(at all times a matter of some difficulty) was impossi¬ 
ble on this occasion, owing to the fact of some 
stands having the large types, and other stands 
exhibiting the smaller flowers. It is therefore 
desirable I think that this section be divided and I 
would suggest that the small singles be included in 
the Pompon section. 
I would also suggest that two more sections, or at 
least one, be added to the catalogue, viz. : first, a 
section for Hirsute Varieties. This seems to me to 
be required as we have a separate competition for 
this type, and. inasmuch as the distinguishing 
features are in some instances more or less absent, an 
authoritative list would be advantageous and obviate 
possible dispute, And, second, a section or list of 
varieties (which may or may not be already classified 
under previous sections) suitable for decoration. 
Although at the present moment I do not feel justified 
in pronouncing a decided opinion as to the advisability 
of such a section, an official list would certainly 
prove a boon to many cultivators of the Chry¬ 
santhemum. 
My propositions then in brief as to section are :— 
I. —Incurved (as at present). II.—Japanese (now 
II. ,Ill, and IV.). III.—Reflexed (now V.). IV.—- 
Anemone (now VI. and VII.). V.—Pompons (now 
VIII., IX. and partly X.). VI.—Large Singles 
(now partly X.). VII.—Hirsute Varieties (new 
section). VIII.—(Or list), Decorative Varieties. 
I would further take the liberty to suggest in 
regard to Section I. (incurved) that the small 
flowering varieties be described as “ small ” in the 
Official Catalogue with the view of introducing 
classes in our exhibitions for small incurved of the 
Rundle and Barbara types. 
The characteristics of the various sections, a 
