9U THE GARDENING WORLD . November 12, 1904. 
however, the reputation of tins grower was chiefly due to hisi 
capability for growing incurved Chrysanthemums better than 
1 i is fellow-ga.rdeiiersi. 
This year hisi reputation must stand upon the forty-eight 
fine; Japanese blooms which lie' staged, and as lie toot four 
special prizes in this same exhibit it may be taken for granted 
that a, very large proportion of his blooms were of superior 
merit. Those on which special stress may be laid, being 
special prize blooms, were Duchess of Sutherland, Mrs. F. W. 
Yallis, Mme. Paolo Radaetli, and Bessie Godfrey. The first- 
named was a remarkable: bloom, and immediately raised the 
reputation of the capabilities of this variety in the estimation 
of experts and. gardeners who were keenly inspecting the ex¬ 
hibit. It seems to us, however, a variety that not any cul¬ 
tivator in. any given, year could bring to perfection. Some 
seasons are more suited to the constitution of certain, varieties, 
while different, conditions would bring forward a number of 
blooms quite of a. different class. 
It, would bei needless for usi to name the rest of the fine 
blooms in, this stand, asi we gave all the best of them last 
week. It isi notable', however, that a few old varieties turned 
up in this: lot, including Edwin Molyneux, M. C'henon do Leche, 
Mr. L. Reiny, and Mrs. Mease. It also argues skill on the part 
of the cultivator to, produce fine blooms of Donald McLeod and 
Miss Alice' Byron, of sufficient, size to win the leading prize in 
such a, strongly contested class as this. There were' eight 
entries', and being placed end to. end they formed a centre of in¬ 
terest for experts on, each day of the" show. 
The thirty-six incurved blooms' for the Holmes Memorial 
Class only brought three entries, but. in face, of this fact, we 
must remember 1 that the cultivation of incurved Chrysanthe¬ 
mums is every year becoming more and more' a speciality with 
the few rather than the many. Judging from what we can see 
and hear, these incurved blooms' are mostly essential only for 
exhibition purposes', because the Japanese sorts are less formal, 
and nevertheless supply a, variety of blooms of every con¬ 
ceivable outline. In private, establishments:, therefore, the 
Japanese race is capable of supplying everything in, the way 
of big Chrysanthemums that may be desired for decorative 
purposes, whether in. the glasshouse or in the cut state. 
The production of new incurved varieties does, nevertheless 
contribute largely to sustaining the interest in this class, and 
those who have serious intentions' of winning must possess 
them solve® of the. large'-flowered new varieties. Some years 
ago we well remember the hesitation entertained as to. whether 
Duchess’ of Fife should be admitted as an incurved variety 
amongst the select, old favourites. The wisdom of making the 
decision, in the' affirmative ha,si been more and more evident 
every year since, and to be assured of this one. has only to look 
over the names of the varieties in the leading stands of the 
classes, whether large or small. 
In a class for twelve or six blooms., for 1 instance, the varieties 
become immensely weeded down and the old favourites are 
entirely eliminated. Amongst the finest blooms of these 
newer types we may mention Duchess: of Fife, Lady Isabel, Mrs. 
H. .1. Jon ©s, Mrs. F. Judson, and C. H. Curtis. Newer claimants 
in this same race are W. Higgs, C. Bliek, and W. Biddle. In 
a leading exhibit of this type Empress of India, was the smallest 
bloom. A few year's ago. it was: amongst the largest, and in its 
day excited as much wonder and admiration as the. largest now 
to be: seen, on thei show!)cards. In the class for six blooms' of 
one incurved variety the prizei-winners were Duohes® of Fife, 
Hanwell Gloiy, C. H. Curtis, and Lady Isabel. These facts are 
significant, and show undoubtedly that we must make progress: 
if the interest in any particular class is to' be sustained. 
Last December an innovaition was inaugurated by Mr. G. H. 
Cuthbert. This was the: awarding cf special prizes for 1 the best 
bloomsi of certain named varieties. The winning blooms in 
these varieties simply indicated that they were the best blooms 
of that variety in the show. To those above named as receiv¬ 
ing special prizes we may add Lady Mary Conyers, Maud du 
Cros, Henry Perkinsi, Mrs. Greenfield, Duke of Devonshire, 
Col. Wethcrall, Lily Mountford, Elsie Fulton, Lord Hopetoun, 
G. Pensford, W. R, Church, and Florence Pensford. These 
were all good blooms of their kind, but it. does not follow that 
they should take precedence of those mentioned in anv first- 
prizei exhibit as, examples, of leading blooms for exhibition 
purposes. Some of them were, of course, good enough for anv 
stand. One special prize, was awarded to the Pompon William 
Westlake, which was certainly a large bloom for this type, 
but. the plant had been disbudded. 
Trained specimens, of Chrysanthemums seem to be dropping 
out of cultivation altogether, for even those to. which first prizes 
were awarded, were greatly inferior to the worst a few years 
ago.. Indeed, we do not think that many good-trained speci¬ 
mens have been, exhibited since the jubilee of the society. We 
suppose that few cultivators or proprietors take much interest 
in this method of growing Chrysanthemums, and they certainly 
offer little compensation, for the space and time they occupy in 
growing them. 
Then again, when, we revert to the reflexed Chrysanthemums, 
large Anemone, Japanese Anemone a.nd Pompon types, we 
find that very few exhibitors turn up in the classes for which 
prizes are offered. The blooms in all these classes we admit 
Were, as good as, they were ten, or twelve years ago, and have 
neither progressed nor- deteriorated as far as the blooms 
exhibited are concerned. The exhibitors are, however, fev. 
and’ all the four 1 sets may he regarded as specialities grown bv 
special admirers of these classes. 
In briefly glancing at the: show, we cannot overlook the im¬ 
portance of the grand exhibits put up by those who continue to 
be raisers and introducers of new varieties. The: most effective 
and meritorious exhibit® from an exhibition point of view were 
certainly those two shown by Messrs. Jones and Davis, reaching 
across one. end of the central transept of the Palace. Other 
feature® in the way of miscellaneous exhibits were also present, 
but in no case 1 could they be regarded as an innovation, nor 
better 1 in the same respect than similar exhibits of previous 
years'. 
The' collections of Apples were undoubtedly fine, and em¬ 
phasised the record that 1904 lias: been an Apple year prac¬ 
tically throughout the. British Isles. One cannot expect to see 
Apples of exhibition size from the Orkney Islands, but, it is 
nevertheless a fact that Apples of useful size and quality can 
be grown from Land’s End to the Orkney Islands. In the 
latter place the fruits' have, to contend with a lower mean 
temperature through the year, and also with sand storms' and 
sea, breezes, to which everything is exposed above thei height of 
garden walls'. 
Tire best and most highly coloured Apples continue to come 
from southern count iem of England, and this year has been un¬ 
usually propitious; in the colouring of Apples. Some writers 
entertain the idea, that colour and quality are incompatible in 
the same, fruit, but that is a, statement that is rather too 
sweeping, for there may bei good, bad and indifferent Apples 
amongst those that are highly coloured. - Colour is largely a 
question of soil, climate and temperature. For instance, many 
Apples that would bei highly, coloured in the south almost any 
year would as certainly he merely green if grown in the Orkney 
Islands. Indeed, over the greater portion of the north of 
Britain, Apples 1 do not get very highly coloured 1 , although there 
are exceptions. 
In the south, on the other hand, some varieties that are 
more often, pale yellow or green than otherwise may be more 
or less 'highly coloured in seasons like the past. For instance, 
we may name Lane’s Prince Albert, Annie Elizabeth, Cornish 
Giant and James! Grieve as being seldom possessed of colour, 
yet are much stained or shaded with red from the southern 
counties this year. In this respect wei are more than surprised 
with the amount, of colour shown by Lane’s Prince Albert. 
Wliat applies to Apples in the matter of climate and tem¬ 
perature' applies still more forcibly to Pears. The finest 
samples grown in this country do undoubtedly come from Kent, 
Surrey or Sussex and from the Channel Islands. The free, 
although considered native, evidently requires a higher tem¬ 
perature to bring it to perfection than the Apple. Useful 
