168 
1'HE GARDENING WORLD 
November 10., 1900. 
i nts for Amateurs. 
Correspondence. 
Questions asked by amateurs on any subject pertaining 
to gardens or gardening mil be answered on this page. 
Anyone may give additional or more explanatory answers 
to questions that have already appeared. Those who desire 
their communications to appear on this page should write 
"Amateurs' Page " on the top of their letters. 
Antirrhinums.— George: A border, or bed, or 
planting of any sort, can be made now with very fair 
chances of success, if the soil is light and the plants 
dwarf and well rooted. A reserve of cutting should 
be kept in a cold frame. 
Early sown Peas —Harris : Where conveniences 
exist the earliest spring supply is sown in pots during 
the present month, or January or February. The 
early outdoor sowings are put in about February or 
March, when the winds have sufficiently dried the 
soil. 
Pruning the Clematis.— R. Jr. As a rule the head 
growths are cut back in the springtime of each year. 
It would not be advisable to cut your plants hard 
back, even although they are young, for though it 
might tend to produce stronger growths, it is some¬ 
times dangerous to so treat the Clematis. 
Propagation of Ficus elastica. — R. L .: The best 
means of securing rooted plants from each of the 
lateral shoots would be to cut a slit or tongue in 
the stems at a joint, and to keep this open by a 
small wedge of wood. Around this tongue you 
would then wrap damp moss moderately firm. This 
moss must be kept moist. When the mossing is 
done the plant should be placed in a house with a 
temperature of 6o° to 65°, so that more active growth 
may be stimulated. In a month's time roots should 
begin to be emitted, when the branches may be 
severed completely, and potted into small pots. Use 
light soil at first, and do not loosen much of the moss 
from the rooted tongue. Keep the young plants 
growing in a warm house till they become estab¬ 
lished ; after which cool treatment will suffice. 
Strawberry Plantations — A. K.: We have 
repeatedly advised early planting of Strawberries. 
Such late planting does not give the plants a chance 
of doing what they ought, and could do. To get 
fuller crops, plant three good plants in triangular 
fashion in well worked soil as soon as you can. 
Position for Apricots.— A.R.Lr. They must 
have shelter wherever they are planted, so that a 
south or south-west wall ought to be chosen. They 
succeed when planted facing south, especially when 
they have the close shelter of a wall on their east 
side, and the screen of a wood belt on the west, 
though at a distance 
Tuberoses in Pots .—New Hand .—As a rule little 
or no difficulty is ever found in growing Tuberoses. 
For an early batch, pot them into a size only just 
large enough to receive the tubers, using well-drained 
pots and a light compost. These may then be 
plunged among fermenting leaves which are kept 
moist, the temperature of the house being maintained 
as high as from 65° to 70°, with plenty of moisiure. 
When growth commences from the tubers, water 
must be consistently supplied, and the plants then 
forming, must be kept clean. They are subject to 
infestation by blackfly, but slight fumigations can 
overcome this. Feeding will be necessary after a 
while, and so may staking be. 
Box-edging — A. : Yes, the work of relaying may 
be undertaken now. A good deal of this work is also 
left over till spring. Do not cut the Ivy till April. 
Paeonies and Dielytras in pots — T. S.: Both of 
these plants can be grown to perfection for gentle 
forcing. They should be potted up now if the 
crowns and roots are ready, in fact, the roots should 
be at once got and placed in 9-in. or 10-in. pots, and 
kept in a greenhouse or other unheated glass struc¬ 
ture till about seven or eight weeks before the time 
they are wanted to flower. If placed in a tempera¬ 
ture of 55 0 to 6o p they will gradually push up, and 
fairly strong blooms can be had early in the year. 
The single Moutan varieties are most generally 
employed for pot culture. Many other hardy plants 
when potted up and slightly forced can be had in 
bloom weeks ahead of their time, so that now there 
need be no dearth of flowers at any season. 
SOME N.C.S. EXHIBITORS. 
The annual competitions for the honours and other 
awards offered to the most successful growers of the 
autumn queen of flowers are again exercising men’s 
minds throughout the length and breadth of the 
land; and for those engaged in this wholesome 
rivalry there will be little rest or peace until the 
season has played itself out. Many of the old hands 
are again coming forward as eagerly as ever; while, 
no doubt, we shall have a few relatively fresh com¬ 
petitors on the show boards, either for the first 
time, or, what is more likely, staking their reputation 
in a larger class, a bolder flight than ever they have 
done before. This is as it ought to be and we should 
in every way encourage the energy that aspires to 
higher things. At the same time we have no doubt 
the older hands will make every effort not to be dis¬ 
placed on the winning cards. On p. 169 we give 
portraits of some of the well tried hands as well as 
younger ones striving for some of the laurels. 
Mr. W. Higgs, gardener to J. B. Hankey, Esq., 
Fetcham Park, Fetcham, near Leatherhead. Surrey, 
may be placed amongst the older hands, for he has 
been competing for a number of years, and has 
come pretty prominently to the front within the last 
few years. Without reckoning up all of his successes, 
even as recorded in The Gardening World, we 
may state that he was making his presence felt at 
the November competitions of the N.C.S. in 1893, 
when he secured the Silver Cup, offered by Major 
A. Collis Browne, and a money prize as well for 
twenty-four Japanese blooms. The contest on that 
occasion was pretty keen when he took the lead 
amongst fifteen competitors. He, however, made a 
bolder stroke when he entered the competition for 
the Holmes Memorial Challenge Cup in the class 
for thirty-six incurved blooms, distinct. It taxes a 
gardener’s resources to get good blooms of as many 
varieties, particularly in a section that requires a 
great deal of care to bring to perfection. This was 
in 1898, when he took the lead amongst six entries. 
In the open class for twenty-four incurved blooms, 
the same year (the prizes being offered by the chair¬ 
man and directors of the Royal Aquarium), he out¬ 
distanced all his rivals. Some of his finer blooms 
were Duchess of Fife, Lady Isabel, Ma Perfection, 
Mrs. R. C. Kingston, &c.; thus showing that his 
varieties were up to date. In 1899, that is, last year, 
he repeated his success in the class for thirty-six 
incurved blooms, and carried off the Holmes 
Memorial Medal, in a competition so close that he 
won merely for the finer arrangement of his blooms 
than his closest rival. He has again boldly gone in 
for the thirty-six and twenty-four incurved varieties, 
winning the former. It is no easy matter to table 
sixty winning blooms in this section of Chrysanth¬ 
emums. 
Mr. W. Mease, gardener to A. Tate, Esq., 
Downside, Leatherhead, has proved himself a 
master-hand in the growing of both Japanese and 
incurved Chrysanthemums. We have recorded 
him amongst the winning stands of the leading 
classes for many years past, but first noted his 
prowess as a champion grower of incurved varieties 
many years ago. Year after year he persevered 
with his favourites, coming forward undaunted at 
the autumn competitions, with greater or less 
success. In November, 1894, he secured the Holmes 
Memorial Medal for thirty-six incurved blooms. 
His greatest success was in 1S96, lhe year of the 
N.C.S. Jubilee Celebration, when two distinct shows 
were held to commemorate the fiftieth year of the 
society. On the occasion of the first show a Gold 
Medal and £15 were offered as the first prize for 
sixty Japanese varieties, and similar awards for sixty 
incurved Chrysanthemums. The lead was taken in 
fine style in both these classes by Mr. Mease. He 
thus at a stroke made good his claim to the title of 
champion grower of both of the most popular 
sections of the Chrysanthemum. There were 
thirteen competitors for the honours in the Japanese 
class, showing how many had hopes of securing the 
coveted awards. He was equally successful in the 
following year, when he again entered the competi¬ 
tion for the Holmes Memorial Challenge Cups, both 
of which he secured for the best thirty-six incurved 
blooms and forty-eight Japanese blooms respectively, 
each flower representing a distinct variety. He also 
had the premier Japanese bloom in the show in 
Madame Carnot. These autumn competitions by 
Mr. Mease were not confined to the shows of the 
National Chrysanthemum Society, for he went 
much furiher afield, with considerable success. He 
is also much appreciated as a judge at Chrysanth¬ 
emum shows. 
Mr. J. W. McHattie, gardener to W. H. Stone, 
Esq., Lea Park, Milford, Surrey, has proved himself 
an all round cultivator of garden produce at many a 
well-contested competition. He is a native of 
Morayshire, and commenced his gardening career at 
Moy Hall, Inverness - shire, the seat of Mack n- 
tosh of Mackintosh. He was at several other places, 
and gradually found his way southwards, for about 
1884 we find him at Newbattle Abbey, near D il- 
keith, the seat of the Marquis of Lothian. In 1888, 
while still comparatively a young man, he created a 
considerable amount of stir amongst his fellow 
gardeners by his successes. He secured the leading 
prizes for his Grapes at the Edinburgh and Glasgow 
shows of that autumn, in the latter case taking the 
Veitch Memorial Medal. He also won the Scottish 
Challenge Cup for Chrysanthemums in November. 
In 1889 he carried off the Edinburgh Chrysanth¬ 
emum Centenary Cup given by the City Corporation 
on the occasion of the celebration of the introduction 
of the Chrysanthemum, at the show held under the 
auspices of the Scottish Horticultural Association. 
Some few years after this we find him at Strathfield- 
saye, the seat of the Duke of Wellington, from 
whence he sent produce to Edinburgh, repeating 
some of his previous successes. He has also been 
a successful exhibitor at several of the shows held 
by the N.C.S. at the Royal Aquarium. Last 
November he took the lead for twenty-four Japanese 
varieties of Chrysanthemum ; and had several other 
first prizes in important classes. His most impor¬ 
tant success was the winning of the Large Gold 
Medal of the society and £20 offered by Mr. H. J. 
Jones for twelve vases of Chrysanthemums of five 
blooms each. The sixty blooms with their own 
foliage were magnificent. 
Mr. Robert and Mr. Walter Owen are sons of 
the late Mr. Robert Owen, of The Floral Nursery, 
Castle Hill, Maidenhead, and managers to the 
executors of the same. For many years prior to his 
death, the late Mr. Owen had been noted as a 
successful raiser of Chrysanthemums. He was, in 
fact, one of the earliest in the field in raising new 
varieties from seeds at a time when English-raised 
seedling Chrysanthemums were a great novelty. 
The chief difficulty lies in the fact that C. sinense 
flowers so late in Britain that great difficulty is 
experienced in preventing the fruiting heads from 
damping during the dullest, and usually the wettest, 
month of the year. Nevertheless, Mr. Owen suc¬ 
ceeded beyond all expectation ; and although he was 
best remembered by the variety named after himself, 
he was also the raiser of such fine varieties as Vis¬ 
countess Hambleden, G. C. Schwabe, Thos. Wilkins, 
Graphic, Rose Wynne, Wilfred Marshall, Lady 
Esther Smith, and many other Japanese varieties. 
Baron Hirsch, Owen’s CrimsoD, Bonnie Dundee, 
George Haigh, Robert Petfield, John Fulford, Lord 
Rosebery, William Tunnington, and Mrs. J. Gar¬ 
diner amongst the incurved section also attested his 
skill. He also raised many fine Anemone varieties 
of different types. His sons, Robert and Walter, 
are now called upon to carry on the good work so 
excellently performed by their father, and they give 
promise of following closely in his footsteps. On 
this occasion they have a large exhibit, nearly all 
seedlings of their own raising, and mostly for 1900. 
We hope to be able to record some successes in this 
exhibit as well as others in the near future. 
William Seward, Esq., The Firs, Hauwell, 
Middlesex, is lamed as a raiser, rather than an 
exhibitor, of Chrysanthemums in the strict sense of 
the term. We well remember the sensation caused 
by the appearance of William Seward and John 
Shrimpton, whea they first made their debut 
at the committee table of the N.C S-. and were sent 
away with the First-class Certificate card upon 
them. The first named is a rich dark or maroon- 
crimson, and still the finest of its colour, for it has 
never been displaced. John Shrimpton is a lovely 
crimson-scarlet reflexed Japanese variety, which was 
grown by hundreds, probably by thousands for many 
(Continued on p. 170.) 
