258 
December 24, 1892 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
to sun and air before being used. Rain water is the 
best. As to feeding, I give no stimulants at all till 
the last week in August. In this I believe I am 
almost alone, as most growers begin in July. I 
believe, however, that if the potting soil is really 
good that the end of August is quite soon enough. 
I use five or six different manures,but always inaliquid 
form, never giving the same fertilizer twice running. 
1 believe that liquid manure from sheep, cow, or 
horse droppings, prepared by placing in a sack and 
allowing it to soak in a tub of water for a night, is 
one of the very best stimulants. Be careful not to 
use it too strong to start with. Of prepared manures 
there are many very good. Pure Icthemic guano, 
Wood's and Standen’s manures being my favourites. 
Sulphate of ammonia is only used to hurry up a late 
bloom, and must be very carefully used. Between 
every watering with stimulants we give two or three 
days with clear water. This I think keeps the ball 
clean and the plant healthy. Never use stimulants 
in strong doses ; the result will be burnt roots and a 
ruined bloom. 
One of the most important details with regard to 
growing for exhibition blooms is the timing of the 
blooms— i.e., to get the bulk of your varieties out at 
about the same time. Now, while we have some 
varieties that are naturally early, and others late, 
we must find out means of retarding the one and 
accelerating the other. I cannot go deeply into this 
subject, as it is too large. I will only say now that 
we arrive at the desired end by stopping— i.e., 
taking out the point of the leader—the plants at 
different times. Thus a plant of Mrs. Alpheus 
Hardy or Mrs. F. Jameson, stopped in April, will 
give good blooms from crown buds about the second 
week in November, whereas if they had been grown 
in a natural way they would never have given an 
exhibition bloom. Taking the buds is a subject that 
is now so generally understood that I will not enter 
further into it, beyond saying that if a plant is found 
to be too early or too late for the shows it is waste 
of time, so far as exhibiting is concerned, to bother 
further about it. The room of such plants is more 
valuable than their company (from an exhibition 
point of view). Of course with new varieties one 
must keep all to find out what their habits and what 
is their natural time. In the case of the older 
varieties their time is known within a few days, and 
such varieties when out of time should not be housed 
unless there is ample room for the rest of the stock. 
Then there is the question of crown or terminal buds. 
This depends entirely upon the variety, and must be 
learnt by experience or by reference to works, where 
all the principal varieties are tabulated, and their 
peculiarities noted. 
We will now enter upon the important step of 
housing the plants, which takes place at the end of 
September. First take care that your houses are 
perfectly clean, if fresh painted so much the better. 
I always house a plant on the very first symptom of 
showing colour in the bud. I am quite certain that 
to leave such a plant outside means simply the loss 
of the flower. I have found by experiment that with 
good blinds and proper ventilation a house can be 
kept cooler than the air outside, and a bloom kept in 
such a house will open later than one kept outside 
and will not be ruined as in the other case. I house 
the bulk of my plants during the last days of Sep¬ 
tember, ar:d have all in by October 2nd or 3rd. It is 
always a relief to me to know that they are safely 
housed and out of the way of the strong winds and 
frosts which often do so much harm at that time of 
the year. When all are in, give a good smoking on 
two successive nights to kill all green fly. After that 
give plenty of ventilation night and day till the 
middle of the month of October. 
I may say that several small houses, where the 
temperature can be regulated, are far better than one 
large house. Some varieties require more heat than 
others to get the best results, and some will want 
hurrying on and some retarding. I prefer a three- 
quarter span house, with front and back ventilation. 
From 1 ft. to 2 ft. will be found the best distance for 
the blooms from the glass. It is important to house 
the plants when dry. All houses must have blinds, 
or shading should be used, as no blooms will stand 
the sun after they show colour. A perfect house in 
my mind would have an outside and also an inside 
blind ; the latter is most useful in protecting the 
blooms from drip caused by condensation. Many 
blooms supposed to have damped in the ordinary 
way are lost from this cause. Avoid all draughts, 
but always allow plenty of air, except when very 
cold or rough outside, when great care must be ex¬ 
ercised. After the plants are housed they will 
require less water, and stimulants must not be given 
after the bloom is half out. 
Then there is the great damping question. Thou¬ 
sands of blooms are lost every year from this cause, 
and various theories advanced to explain it and 
advice given for prevention of the evil. I do not 
myself believe that the use of stimulants is in itself 
the main cause. I have had plants damp oft which 
have had no stimulants at all. I think the real 
reason of the disease arises from the fact that we 
grow only one, two, or three blooms on a plant which 
is capable of growing perhaps as many hundreds, 
and that the amount of sap in the plant fails to find 
sufficient work to do, and causes the evil. Some 
blooms no doubt are lost from the wood not being 
properly ripe. I think that careless ventilation is 
one great cause of blooms damping. Avoid all 
draughts, and on no account allow the sun to get on 
the blooms. Some varieties are much worse than 
others. Those with heavy foliage are much more 
difficult to get ripe, and proportionately disappoint¬ 
ing. I intend next season, as an experiment, to 
reduce the foliage of some varieties. I have lost 
eighteen splendid blooms of Col. W. B. Smith out 
of twenty this season, and the plants were the best 
among my collection. 
On setting up the blooms and taking them to the 
shows I will only :;ay a few words. I think that the 
best tubes are those patented by Mr. E. Beckett and 
bearing his name. I use them in conjunction with 
the Jameson clip, which enables one to adjust the 
bloom to any desired height. A great deal can be 
done by careful arrangement of the colours. I 
believe in placing the largest blooms in the back 
row. On one matter I feel strongly, and take this 
opportunity of expressing it. A habit has crept in 
among exhibitors of altering the character of many 
blooms by spreading them out by means of card¬ 
board discs and wire crinolines. The object is to 
give the stand an appearance of weight which it 
does not really possess. I think that the time has 
come when this practice should be put a stop to, and 
all tubes limited in diameter to a certain specified 
size (say 2 in.), and no other supports allowed. If 
this were done we should hear less about the boards 
not being large enough. At the October Show of the 
National Chrysanthemum Society I saw two good 
blooms of E. Molyneux entirely spoilt by an enor¬ 
mous card being placed between the tube and the 
bloom. Instead of being deep solid blooms they 
appeared to be quite flat, and altogether out of 
character. I think that the judges should persis¬ 
tently go for deep solid flowers, and ignore all such 
manipulated blooms. 
Now that new varieties of merit are so constantly 
appearing I feel that it is almost impossible to give 
a complete list of the best varieties of Japanese 
Chrysanthemums ; but I give below a list of those I 
think are the leading forty-eight at the present time, 
not in the order of merit: — Mrs. A. Hardy, Viviand 
Morel, Etoile de Lyon (terminal), Mrs. E. W. 
Clarke, Puritan, Mrs. C. W. Wheeler, Stanstead 
White, Violet Rose, R. C. Kingston, Colonel W. B. 
Smith, Mrs. E. D. Adams, W. W. Coles, E. Moly¬ 
neux, W. Tricker, Florence Davis, Coronet, G. C. 
Schwabs, Gloire du Rocher, Gloriosum, Mrs.Herbert 
Fowler, W. El. Lincoln, Sarah Owen, Madame J. 
Laing, Sunflower, Mons. Bernard, Avalanche, Mrs. 
F. Jameson, Mdlle. Marie Hoste, Miss Anna Hartz- 
horn, Japonaise, Eynsford White, Madame Baco, 
Lilian B. Bird, Lord Brooke, Beauty of Castlewood, 
Beauty of Castlehill, Aida, Ruth Cleveland, J. Stan- 
borough Dibbens, Mrs. J. S. Fogg, Beauty of 
Exmouth, W. K. Woodcock, Lady T. Lawrence, 
Mr. A. H. Neve, W. Lane, Hamlet, Boule d’Or, and 
Ralph Brocklebank. 
I hope this paper has not been too long, but the 
subject is so large that I could have written much 
more, and I assure you that I have found it an un¬ 
failing source of interest during the last four years. 
1 would strongly advise any who have the oppor¬ 
tunity to try and grow a few plants next year, and 
note the many differences which are to be found in 
the habits and likings of this most interesting family. 
[We have much pleasure in giving on the preceding 
page a portrait of Mr. Fowler which was not ready- 
tor our issue of November 19th. To that number, 
p. 177, we may refer our reader for some particulars 
concerning this distinguished and much-respected 
amateur’s successes.—E d.J 
NATIONAL CHRYSANTHEMUM 
SOCIETY. 
A meeting of the General Committee was held at 
Anderton's Hotel, on Tuesday evening, and there 
was a large attendance, over forty members being 
present. Mr. K. Ballantine, presided and the minutes 
of the previous meeting having been confirmed, Mr, 
A. Taylor presented an interesting tabulated report 
on the number of cut blooms exhibited at the last 
November show, and received the thanks of 
the Committee for the trouble he had taken 
in the matter. The total number of cut blooms 
staged was 2,163, comprising 1,134 Japanese (142 
varieties), and 642 incurved (75 varieties), the re¬ 
maining 387 consisting of reflexed. Pompons, large- 
flowered Anemones, Japanese Anemones, Anemone 
Pompons, singles, varieties not in commerce, and 
new varieties named. Two lists were presented, 
showing the number of times each variety was ex¬ 
hibited in the Japanese and incurved classes, but we 
regret we can only find space here for the first 
twenty-four in each section. 
Japa 
Avalanche 84 
Viviand Morel 68 
Sunflower 62 
Ed. Molyneux 47 
W. H. Lincoln 45 
Etoile de Lyon 40 
Stanstead White 40 
Gloire du Rocher 36 
Florence Davis 35 
Mons. Bernard 35 
Mrs. Falconer Jameson 30 
Puritan 29 
Incu: 
Princess of Wales 47 
Empress of India 40 
Lord Alcester 39 
Jeanne d’Arc 31 
Queen of England 31 
Lord Wolseley 28 
Golden Empress 25 
Violet Tomlin 24 
John Lambert 22 
Miss M. A. Haggas 20 
John Doughty 19 
Mrs. S. Coleman 19 
S’ESE. 
Louis Boehmer 25 
Val d’Andorre 23 
A. H. Neve 20 
Condor 20 
Mad. J. Laing 19 
Mad. C. Audiguier iS 
W. W. Coles 1 5 
Sarah Owen 15 
W. Tricker 15 
Mad. Baco 14 
Mdlle. Marie Hoste 14 
Gloriosum 14 
IVED. 
M. R. Bahuant 16 
Mrs. Heale 16 
Alfred Salter 16 
Nil Desperandum 15 
Lady Hardinge 13 
Mad. Darrier 12 
Mrs. W. Shipman 12 
John Salter 12 
Prince Alfred 10 
Jardin des Plantes 9 
Princess Teck 9 
Alfred Lyne 8 
The Chairman then' brought up the following 
report from the Sub-Committee appointed to inves¬ 
tigate the charges made by Mr. W. J. Godfrey in 
the Journal of Horticulture against a member of the 
Floral Committee, and moved that it be received and 
adopted, 
“ Your Committee have to report that they have 
held several meetings, and acting under legal advice 
they passed the resolution (A) published in the Journal 
of Horticulture of November 3rd. At the same 
meeting the member whose conduct was complained 
of voluntarily attended, but your Committee declined 
to discuss the matter with him until the letter con¬ 
taining the charges had been published by the 
Journal of Horticulture. This letter the Journal of 
Horticulture ((declined to publish. At a subsequent 
meeting a sworn statement was furnished by the 
gentleman in question denying the main facts of the 
case. In face of this statement your Committee 
came to the conclusion that it would be unwise to 
proceed further, as were they to do so they were 
advised that an action for libel against them might 
be the result. This decision was communicated to 
the Editor of the Journal of Horticulture by letter (B), 
but this letter he did not publish. Your Committee 
recommend that no further action be taken in the 
matter.— Signed, R. Ballantine, Edwd. C. Jukes, 
Joseph R. Starling, R. Dean, C. Harman Payne.” 
Resolution marked A. 
That inasmuch as the charges brought by the 
Journal of Horticulture against a member of the Floral 
Committee of the National Chrysanthemum Society 
are made in exceedingly vague terms, and as the 
letter upon which the charges were founded is not 
published, or the name of the incriminated member 
made publicly known, the Sub-Committee are unable 
to effectively deal with the matter. They consider 
that in justice to all concerned the publication of the 
letter is imperatively called for.” 
Letter marked B. 
“ The Editor, Journal of Horticulture. 
•• Dear Sir,—Referring to your paragraph of 
October 27th re Floral Committee Certificates of the 
N.C.S., I beg to inform you that the Sub-Committee 
that was appointed has held three meetings, and as 
far as possible investigated the matter. The member 
