924 
THE GARDEN IN Q WORLD 
December 2, 1905. 
CHRYSANTHEMUM V POTATOS 
supplement.) Mrs. WALTE R JIN KS. AT W E S T /A 1 N S T E R 
The subject of our illustration this week 
represents a colour amongst Chrysanthemums 
that is by no> means common. It is a 
Japanese variety with regularly and close- 
drooping or recurved florets of a rich rose- 
pink. The bloom, which we had photo¬ 
graphed, measured 7in. wide and 7in. deep. 
The florets are of medium breadth, and this 
is well shown on the upper part of the flower, 
but towards the base of the blooms, where 
they are getting older, they become revolute 
at the sides, though they still remain practi¬ 
cally straight, although rolled up in this 
fashion. The colour is of a shade which is not 
easy to describe, as many flowers might be 
described in the same words, which, to the 
casual onlooker, would be quite different. 
The rose-pink in this case was very intensi¬ 
fied, and therefore distinct amongst all the 
new varieties which we have seen this year. 
There is an immense quantity or number of 
florets in each bloom, so that it never becomes 
open in the crown when grown for exhibi¬ 
tion purposes, but seems to increase in depth 
in its last stages by the development of the 
central florets. We understand it is a very 
easy variety to grow, and the best blooms are 
obtained from the second crown buds. The 
variety was raised by Mr. Walter Jinks, 
Knowle Green House, Staines, who brought 
it before the committee of the National 
Chrysanthemum Society on November 1st, 
and received a first-class certificate for it. It 
passed into the collection of Mr. W. J. God¬ 
frey, Exmouth, Devon, on the first day of 
the show, and he will put it into commerce. 
We think there is little doubt that this will 
take a leading position' on the show boards 
next year on account of its size, fullness, 
quality, and the rich dark colour which it 
supplies, - and which is much needed on the 
show boards at the present day. Notwith¬ 
standing the large number of crimson varie¬ 
ties which have been raised and put into com¬ 
merce, only a very small proportion of them 
appear on the show boards year by year. 
Some of them are probably too late for show, 
but in a large number of cases crimson varie¬ 
ties are just on the small side for exhibition, 
and their colour, in any case, is difficult for 
the cultivator to. get ready for exhibition in 
its best form. The vaiiety under notice is 
by no means a crimson, but it certainly affords 
the rich dark colour which is wanted. 
Letters to the Editor. 
Choisya ternata. 
To the Editor of The Gardening World. 
Sir, —“ W. P. R.” (Preston), in your cur¬ 
rent issue, questions the hardiness of Choisya 
ternata north of Manchester. Allow me to 
inform him that it is perfectly hardy in Moray¬ 
shire. One plant I know of is at least 6ft. in 
diameter and flowers profusely. D. C. 
To the Editor of The Gardening World. 
Sir, — In response to the inquiry of your 
correspondent, “ W. P. R,” (Preston), in your 
issue of the 18th inst., I beg to say that this 
beautiful shrub is hardy in many parts of 
Scotland, our Edinburgh nurserymen growing 
it in quantity in the open breaks, and selling 
it for planting out of doors. C. C. 
The second annual exhibition of the 
National Potato Society was held in the Hor¬ 
ticultural Hall, Vincent Square, Westminster, 
on November 23 and 24. The da.y was wet 
in the morning, but fair in the afternoon, so 
that we should have expected a greater num¬ 
ber of visitors than turned up, but dull, cold 
weather, as well as the lack of flowers, would 
seem toi weigh heavily in* keeping the London 
public indoors. Possibly also attractions 
elsewhere kept them away, and there remains 
the fact that the great body of people are 
satisfied by seeing Potatos in good form on 
the dinner table rather than in the raw form 
at an exhibition. Raisers and many gar¬ 
deners, however, were alive to the importance 
of the situation, and the visiting public con¬ 
sisted chiefly of them. 
The hall was well filled with competitive 
and non-competitive exhibits, and showed that 
the noble tuber has certainly a large number 
of admirers and interested adherents. The 
commercial importance of the Potato is un¬ 
doubted, but almost every gardener lias to 
grow at least early Potatos, and a large num¬ 
ber of them are immensely interested in the 
late or main crop varieties, and those who 
have* convenience grow them. 
According to the audit of the first exhibi¬ 
tion, 453 varieties were shown, and, judging 
from appearances, the number can scarcely be 
less when the next general audit is made up. 
The non-competitive exhibits included the 
largest number of varieties, but that is 
naturally to be expected, seeing that they 
have to grow collections to meet the wants of 
the general public. The new varieties also 
occurred chiefly in those exhibits, and private 
gardeners could not be expected to have them 
in all cases. 
Class 1 of the competitive schedule this year 
consisted of twelve varieties selected from the 
audit of last year, and, as the popularity of 
the respective varieties depended upon the 
number of times they were exhibited, they 
were naturally the first twelve varieties on the 
list. Northern Star took the lead by having 
been exhibited fifty-eight times, and Recorder, 
being a new one, was exhibited only twenty- 
one times in the non-competitive exhibits. 
All the others mentioned below had smaller 
numbers, but it is interesting to note that 
King Edward VII. and Sir John Llewellyn 
came next in order to Northern Star with 
forty-five exhibits each. 
We presume that an audit will again be 
taken of the show which has just been held, 
and it will be interesting to note if the last 
year’s varieties maintain their position or be 
outreaohed by newer claimants. All of them 
were certainly shown in fine form, but the 
appearance of many others was likely to find 
adherents, so that they may come nearer the 
top of the list when the next audit is taken. 
When cottagers take to gardening, Potatos 
are almost certain to take the leading im¬ 
portance in their gardens, and the exhibits on 
the 23rd inst. gave evidence that cottagers 
can not only grow Potatos, but are capable of 
showing them in excellent form. A few of 
their exhibits consisted of enormous tubers, 
which, however, did not gain prizes, so that 
apparently the National Potato Society does 
not give preference to the largest possible 
tubers, even when shown by cottage rs. 
According to the recent “ Code of Rules for 
Judging,” issued by the Royal Horticultural 
Society, that body is still of opinion that size 
“ may not inappropriately take precedence ” 
in the case of cottagers’ produce. It may also 
be stated that a large number of visitors were 
of opinion that many of the Potatos exhibited 
were much too large for table purposes. A 
number of the traders, on the other hand, 
are evidently of opinion that the largest 
tubers and the greatest weight per acre are 
important desiderata. 
Except as food for horses and cattle, we 
think that tubers of enormous size are un¬ 
desirable. Even in the case of cottagers, 
tubers of moderate size would be a decided 
advantage, and to secure weight the sets 
should be placed sufficiently close to encourage 
a moderate growth, both in the length, of the 
haulm and the size of the tubers. Weight 
and quality would thus be secured, which 
would be equally advantageous for cot¬ 
tagers as for private establishments. The 
best white dish in the cottagers’ class was 
Britannia, and the best coloured one Reading 
Russet. 
The Silver Challenge Cup, value £50. was, 
no doubt, a great temptation, but it also re¬ 
quires an extreme effort on the part of any 
exhibitor to win it three times in succession in 
order to remain the absolute possessor of it. 
Only two exhibitors attempted it, but their 
exhibits were certainly fine. The nine varie¬ 
ties asked for had to be selected from a- given 
list, but this would offer no difficulty, as most 
of them are now easily obtainable. One 
feature in connection with this class, was the 
polished appearance of the Potatos. The 
question arises whether polishing is really 
desirable, as it must affect the natural con¬ 
dition of the skin, by which traders and con¬ 
sumers alike are able to judge of the quality 
of a Potato at sight. The large growers of 
Potatos themselves, while carefully washing 
the tubers, do not resort to polishing, but 
leave the skin much in its natural form. 
Some interest was created in the class for 
twelve consecutive roots, to- be lifted under 
supervision, and to compete for total weight of 
nroduoe. These exhibits formed large heaps, 
but we think it would add to their appearance 
if washing was allowed or insisted upon, be¬ 
cause some soils are very adhesive, and hang 
on to the tubers in a disagreeable way. Par¬ 
ticulars of the weights are given below. 
The classes for disease-resisting Potatos and 
for flavour had the list of varieties selected 
and entered in the schedule. The actual 
varieties would depend, of course, upon trials 
conducted either by the society or other 
growers, so that each variety could be seen 
by comparison'with its neighbours. Flavour 
was determined by experiments in boiling 
them under certain conditions, so that ex¬ 
hibitors are not expected to represent the 
varieties by trials of their own. It will be 
necessary, however, that further experiments 
be conducted in respect of new varieties. 
It would be interesting, for the sake of com¬ 
parison, if records had been kept of the old 
international exhibitions of Potatos at the' 
Crystal Palace, but it seems that no records 
of a useful character are extant concerning 
them. No doubt this will be remedied by the 1 
Potato Society, and that records of the present' 
will be kept for guidance or comparison in 
the future. All this would be of scientific 
interest, and possibly give clues that would 
show the value of a Potato' during its early 
history, so that it could be discarded or pre¬ 
served according to its merits. Very few of 
