198 
F H E GARDENING WORLD 
November 27, 1897. 
mum grower to Mr. T. S. Ware, has succeeded in pro¬ 
ducing a capitai display of the Autumn Queen at the 
Hale Farm Nurseries, Tottenham. Upwards of a 
thousand plants are grown. This)ear, owing to 
great stress of business, the ’Mums have had to 
rough it somewhat, there having been room to house 
only a portion of the stock, for the bouses have been 
occupied with other things. Still, the plants that 
are under glass have behaved very satisfactorily. 
Possibly the most noteworthy variety in the whole 
collection is a new incurve obtained from home- 
saved seed. It is named Countess of Warwick—a 
name that will doubtless soon become familiar to 
'Mum growers. The bloom is the counterpart of 
Duches of Fife and Lady Isabel for size, and leaves 
the old style of true Chinese incurve far behind. 
The colour is creamy-white, with a suffusion of rose 
upon the lower florets. Reoa Dula is a compara¬ 
tively new variety that makes a capital front row 
flower for a stand of incurves. The blooms are of 
medium size, but very compact, and almost globular 
in shape The colour is a delicate silvery-rose. At 
Hale Farm we observed a number of plants, all of 
which were noticeable not only for the symmetry of 
the flowers they bore, but also for their dwarf 
habit. 
Coming to the Japanese varieties, one of the most 
promising new ones was named General Roberts. It 
is after Milano in build, but the florets are rather 
shorter, and the colour is deeper. Yellow Madame 
Carnot was remarkable for the great width and sub¬ 
stance of the petals, as contrasted with G. J. Warren, 
which has been shown in remarkably good condition 
this year. Ella Curtis is one of the most distinct of 
the newer forms. The rich bronze-yellow hue is 
most attractive, and the enormous width and length 
of the florets constitute it one of the largest of show 
flowers. Duke of Wellington was represented by 
some of the finest flowers we have seen this season. 
When well grown, as in this case, the flowers are 
very imposing, and of the colour there is nothing 
better among the ranks of the incurved Japs. 
Western King, Simplicity, Graphic, Milano, and 
Lady Oporto Tait were all in capital condition. 
The curious Madame Edmond Roger has a charm 
all its own. The particular shade of green it 
exhibits is not at all unpleasing. 
Single flower varieties are by no means forgotten. 
Miss Mary Anderson and other flowers of that type are 
among the most useful and handsome. Ethel Suter 
is one of the finest of the larger flowered forms 
from a decorative point of view. It cannot be fairly 
said to be a single, since there are four rows of ray 
florets, but the flower is striking nevertheless, being 
over 4 in. in diameter, and rich, full yellow in hue. 
Bessie Conway is another semi-double of value. It 
has large white flowers prettily blotched with rose. 
Miss Rose represents another useful section of 
singles. Here we may place the small white Gladys 
Foster, a variety of some two years’ standing. 
BOTANIC GARDENS, GLASGOW. 
Among the many improvements which Mr. Dewar 
has made since his appointment as Curator of the 
Glasgow Botanic Gardens, perhaps one of the 
happiest was the introduction of an annual display 
of the flower of the period—the Chrysanthemum. 
This grand show is each year held in the gorgeous 
Kibble Palace, a magnificent building now used as 
winter gardens. The happy idea has elicited, as 
would naturally be expected, the highest approbation 
of the public, and notwithstanding the obdurate con¬ 
tempt with which the commercial denizens of the 
good old city of St. Mungo behold the arts and 
devices of the horticulturist, the labours of Mr. 
Dewar have successfully gained their admiration. 
This we confess is one of the most powerful indica¬ 
tions of not only the professional resources of the 
Curator, but what is more, his ability to forsee the 
way and means whereby to meet the requirements of 
a public constituted such as in a city like Glasgow. 
On Saturday afternoon the yearly exhibition was 
opened to the public by Bailie Dickson, who, in his 
opening address, bestowed high praise on the 
deserving exertions of Mr. Dewar and his assistants 
for the beautiful treat that the public received at 
their hands. The present display is undoubtedly 
the finest yet produced by Mr. Dewar, and this is no 
small matter in the estimation of those who are 
conversant with the difficulties which surround the 
higher cultivation of the Chrysanthemum, and its 
ever increasing development. Each year's produc¬ 
tion clearly proves that it is possible by the applica¬ 
tion of art and untiring energy to bring forward 
material that would seem only a year before to be 
impracticable. 
The chief object of attraction, which absorbed 
the attention of the many thousands of visitors 
during the evening, was the conical bank of Chrysan¬ 
themums built on the site of the circular pond at the 
entrance dome of the Palace. This cone, 30 ft. in 
diameter and 20 ft. high, terminating at the apex 
with a fine specimen of Kentia fosteriana, was com¬ 
posed of nearly 1,000 well-grown plants. 
This formed, so to speak, the centre piece of the 
show ; and on account of its position was eminently 
effective. On either sides open outwards the two 
large side houses, which were, on this occasion, one 
mass of Chrysanthemum bloom. The sight 
was in the highest degree grand and imposing, and 
one that the visitors will long remember, and which 
well merits the multitudinous plaudits bestowed 
upon it by all on Saturday afternoon. The blooms 
were exceptionally large and uniformly so through¬ 
out ; the colours were exquisitely and artistically 
arranged, and combined to produce the most pleasing 
and telling effect. 
Each plant was labelled in such a style that the 
name could be distinctly read by all the inquisitive 
'Mum hunters, as they paced around the prodigious 
pile. We would fain give a list of the choice varie¬ 
ties, did space allow, but we cannot withhold giving 
that of a few which were exceedingly fine, viz., Mrs. 
D. Dewar, and Mrs. Bisland (two garden seedlings 
raised by Mr. Dewar), Surprise, Mrs. W. H. Lees, 
General Roberts, Julia Scaramanga, E. Tabor, 
William Tricker, Mrs. H. Weeks, Mutual Friend, 
Duchess of York, M. J. Allemand, Phoebus, Com¬ 
mandant Blusset, G. C. Schwabe, M. Pankoucke, 
Amiral Avellan, Majory Kinder, Vicar of Exmouth, 
Louise, Pride of Madford, Amy Shea, and many 
more equally worthy of notice. 
The band and pipers of the Argyll and Sutherland 
Highlanders discoursed a fine selection of music 
during the evening, and the throng of visitors was 
unprecedented in the annals of the gardens. -Gamma. 
THE VINERIES, FRAMFIELD. 
The removal of Mr.Norman Davis'establisbment from 
Lilford Road, Camberwell, S.E., to the clearer and 
more kindly atmosphere of southern Sussex has been 
productive of marvellous results. The critical 
character of the modern cultivation of the Chrysan¬ 
themum is such that light, air, and sunshine are all 
important factors if good blooms ate to be forth¬ 
coming. Mr. Davis has undoubtedly risen to the 
height of his opportunities, as those of us with 
whom his magnificent display of the Autumn Queen 
at the November show of the National Chrysanthe¬ 
mum Society is still fresh will fully admit. Such 
blooms as he then exhibited have never been sur¬ 
passed, if indeed they have ever been equalled in the 
history of the cult of the Chrysanthemum. 
With regard to natural surroundings Mr. Davis’ 
lot is cast in pleasant places. The Framfield 
Nurseries, which have an area of some sixteen 
acres, are within sixteen miles of that metropolis of 
southern coast watering-places—Brighton, and about 
one and a half miles distant from the country town 
of Uckfield. The country hereabouts is charmingly 
hilly, and is well wooded, and watered by the Ouse 
and its tributaries. 
The nurseries themselves are situated on the 
gentle slope of a hill facing to the south, and within 
view of the breezy tops of the South Downs, which 
run in a misty blue line along the southern and 
south-western horizons. 
We were astonished to find that two acres of 
ground are covered by well-built and substantial 
glasshouses. There are eight roomy span-roofed 
erections, each measuring 200 ft. in length and 
varying from 20 ft. to 25 ft. in width. The giant, 
however, is a veritable palace of glass, which is 
312 ft. in length, 65 ft. in width, and of propor¬ 
tionate height. All these houses are filled with 
Chrysanthemums in the autumn months, the large 
house above referred to being devoted to early 
flowering varieties, many of which are planted out. 
Upwards of thirty thousand Chrysanthemums are 
grown in pots, which fact alone is sufficient evidence 
of the gigantic scale upon which Mr. Norman 
Davis conducts business. 
We were too late to see the flowers at their best, 
for they expended early this season, owing to the 
summer-like character of the first three weeks in 
October, but there were thousands of grand blcoms 
still on view, in the third week in November, suffi¬ 
cient evidence of what skilled cultivation can effect. 
The Framfield collection includes a vast number 
of varieties, but year by year inferior forms are 
weeded out, or only grown for stock to supply 
orders, while all the best varieties are grown and 
flowered in quantity. 
With the eye of a true artist Mr. Davis has 
arranged the several varieties in batches or breaks 
by themselves. In this way each variety is enabled to 
display its charms and its distinctive features of 
colour and build to the greatest advantage. Thus 
the eye is greeted with a succession of breaks of colour 
that makes a far greater impression on the mind 
than does the kaleidoscopic effect of a mixed arrange¬ 
ment. 
With the sight of those gigantic blooms of Mad¬ 
ame Carnot shown at the Aquarium still looming 
largely in our mind’s eye we were naturally somewhat 
curious to see the plants from which they were 
taken. We found, somewhat to our surprise, be it 
confessed, that as a rule one plant in a small 8-inch 
pot had produced three of these floral giants. Some 
of the huge flowers were still left, and towering high 
up above their fellows, for Madame Carnot does not 
lack stature, were determined not to be passed by. 
As Mr. Davis markets a great many of the flowers, 
Japanese and incurved Japanese varieties were the 
most conspicuously in evidence. We may include in 
these what is popularly known as the decorative sec¬ 
tion. Varieties of this class must be possessed of 
good habit, the colour of the flower must be good, 
and the plants must be floriferous, whilst a stiff 
strong stem, not necessarily a thick one, is a sine qua 
non. Golden Gate, which was certificated in 1896 by 
the N.C.S. is the beau ideal of a market variety. 
The habit of the plant is everything that could be 
desired, and the flower is of good size and exhibits a 
rich shade of bronze-orange, while the florets are 
stout and substantial. Such varieties as Mme. Felix 
Perrin, pink, and Clinton Chalfont were also first- 
class. King of Plumes is a curious flower of medi¬ 
um size with very deeply laciniated florets. The 
colour is rich butter-yellow. 
Than Sunstone it would be difficult to find any¬ 
thing more charming, for the breezy Sussex hills 
have developed the delicate colour to perfection. 
The same may be said of Etoile de Lyon, which, 
however much it may be inclined to coarseness else¬ 
where, with Mr. Davis is exceedingly handsome. 
We have now so maDy good yellows that it is 
hard indeed to choose between them, and here at 
Framfield they faced us in almost bewildering pro¬ 
fusion. Sunflower, Phoebus, Edith Tabor, and 
Modesto are all too well known to need further 
praise. It must suffice to say that here we saw them 
at their best, and those who know what that “best ” 
is will be able to judge for themselves. Streasa is a 
rather tall yellow variety that is not so well known. 
Its great merit is that its flowers expand about 
Christmas, although the general earliness of the 
season has affected it somewhat this year. Tuxedo 
is another excellent late yellow form. Kentish 
Yellow may be best described as a yellow counter¬ 
part to Niveus. 
White varieties were in equal abundance. Next 
to Madame Carnot, the most striking was without 
doubt Western King. This is one of the best of the 
seedlings sent out by Mr. Nathan Smith, of Adrian, 
Mich., U.S.A. Mr. Norman Davis distributed it in 
this country, and from the first averred that of its 
kind there would be nothing to beat it. How true 
this forecast was our visit abundantly proved to us, 
for over 600 magnificent blooms were then open and 
many hundreds had been already cut. Mrs. Weeks 
is undeniably good, but Western King is 
better, as may easily be seen when the two varieties 
are grown side by side. We may remark, en passant, 
that of the eight American seedlings from Mr. 
Nathan Smith, Mr. Davis has received First-class 
Certificates for seven of them—a handsome record. 
Of the newer whites which have been certificated 
during the coming season, Simplicity may be men¬ 
tioned as a good and useful sort, and sufficiently dis¬ 
tinct. Niveus, another American variety, also does 
remarkably well, and is still one of the best whites. 
Souvenir d'une Petite Amie must likewise not be 
forgotten. 
Hairy Wonder was represented by some mar- 
