.January 7, 1905. 
THE GARDEN IN (i WORLD. 
n 
no plantation of their own they can buy a bunch for a penny. 
A hoy paid three rupees a month will save two of them, and 
when sufficiently rich buys a wife, builds a house, plants 
Bananas and then lives in peace and plenty. The wives do 
all the work. That would be an interesting opening for the 
lady gardener. 
Judging from the number of life members, the financial part 
of the Guild must now be in a flourishing way, but as the 
Guild continues to increase in numbers with its age, it should 
never be in financial straits. 
Rose Maharajah. 
(See Supplement.) 
New and valuable additions continue to be made to the list 
of Itoses suitable for growing on pillars and covering trellises 
or other structures in the open. The blooms of the above new 
variety are nearly single, yet the variety is classed amongst 
the Hybrid Perpetuals, which would mean the class from which 
it has been derived. The flowers are of large size, with broad 
rounded petals, considerably overlapping one another and 
spread out smoothly so as to expose the great cluster of yellow 
anthers in the centre. These blooms measure from 4 in. to 
5 in. in diameter, which we consider sufficiently large for a 
single Bose with regard to its durability. The petals appear, 
however, to be of great substance, and while the Rose has 
been in existence for a few years undergoing trial, it came 
to the front with great prominence during the past season. 
As the flowers were brought up at different times, they gave 
evidence of the perpetual character of the variety. It, indeed, 
keeps on flowering during a great portion of the summer and 
autumn. This .will be an acquisition to the class, seeing- that 
su many of the pillar Roses practically last only a short time 
and are then flowerless for the rest of the season. The colour 
is rather a peculiar shade, being amongst the darkest varieties 
and variously described as velvety maroon-purple and velvety 
crimson. These flowers are produced three on a shoot, so 
that size in this instance makes amends for the number of 
blooms in a cluster of.many of the climbing Roses. 
The growth of the plant is sturdy, while the foliage is of 
dee}> green and leathery character. It was raised by Messrs. 
B. I’. Cant and Sons, the Old Rose Gardens, Colchester, who 
received an Award of Merit for it at the meeting of the R.H.S. 
on June 14th last. Our supplementary illustration this week 
will give an idea cf the general character of the variety with 
regard to form and size of the bloom. The plant itself is very 
hardy and will be a valuable addition for growing as specimen 
plants on lawns or borders as well as in pillar form. 
The Decorative Chrysanthemum, 
I he above was the subject of discussion for the Abiuger and 
District Gardeners' Mutual Improvement Association on De¬ 
cember loth, and was introduced by Mr. H. Sickelmore, with 
the object of expatiating on the merits of this much neglected 
class. He laid emphasis on the fact that artistic and decora- 
the gardening, certainly as regards the Chrysanthemum, was 
very much on the decline. The decorative class is positively 
ignored : that is, the single, pompon, Anemone, and the reflex. 
A hy Chrysanthemum societies and gardeners generally should 
give these beautiful and useful varieties the cold shoulder he 
could not understand, but all seem to have a craze for the pon¬ 
derous Japanese and incurved varieties, which on account of 
their enormous size are of no use for decorative purposes. Of 
corn se, they reflect great cultural skill on the part of the gar¬ 
dener when placed on the show board, but you could not pos¬ 
sibly attempt to decorate your employer’s table with such 
dooms , lienee the importance why Chrysanthemum societies, 
representing progress, should equally as much encourage the 
decorative section, which is- far more useful. At our exhibi¬ 
tions we see big blooms on the show board, big blooms in the 
' ases, big blooms in the groups, all very much too formal. 
Artistic arrangement in (he vases and groups, of com <, 
impossible with such big blooms. 
As tar back as the Chrysanthemum Conference on Novcm- 
ber 5th, 1889 the president spoke his mind regarding big 
blooms. He said : “ Surely you would not dream of detennin 
ing the beauty of a woman by her size and height, much less 
should you do so with flowers.” He also spoke of the remarks 
he overheard while looking at the wonderful show of big 
flowers at the Aquarium. A countryman said«to his wife while 
looking at one of the huge incurved blooms: " Did you ever 
see such a big’ un now? Why, it looks for all the world, 
missus, like one of your gert (great) big Apple doomplins.” A 
A Grass Gum Tree (Xanthorrhoea hastilis). (8ee p. in.) 
too big bloom is far less beautiful than a too small one. Take, 
for instance, the single Chrysanthemum. Can you imagine 
anything more beautiful during the autumn months than a 
vase of these lovely flowers artistically arranged? Are they 
not decorative to the highest degree ? Put them side by side 
with a vase of Japanese exhibition flowers, as seen at our 
exhibitions. Do wlxat you will, you cannot make them look 
decorative. They have that top-heavy appearance which 
makes you fearful to walk past them less you should cause 
them to topple over. The only suitable place for these big 
flowers is the show board. Taken off that and they are out of 
place. 
As regards using all big flowers for grouping, I consider a 
greater mistake could not be made, except where groups are 
150 ft. to 200 ft. super. The carrying points in grouping 
should be artistic arrangement designed to give a pretty effect 
together with well-balanced quality. Do we see this at our 
Chrysanthemum shows? The committee who prepare the 
classes for competition, regardless of the fact that they repre- 
sent a progressive body, not being satisfied at seeing the 
Japanese and incurved juggernauts on the show boards, en- 
