944 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
December 9, 1905. 
be difficult to gain adherents to a gardening 
society, for, as the old song says, “ We’re all 
gardeners,” from Adam onwards; but there 
are some unfortunate men who seem to have 
the knack of getting disliked by their 
fellows, and it follows that if once an un¬ 
popular character of this description finds 
his way into the committee, it means either 
the loss of existing members or a slackening 
of recruits. To many this may seem a small 
and paltry point, and, indeed, it i9 so ; but 
one has to deal with facts as one finds them, 
and I would say emphatically, for the good 
of any society, when the time comes to elect 
your committee, vote for the best men ; have 
workers, not windbags, and be particular to 
exclude from your ballot list those whom you 
know to have enemies. This may seem in 
the abstract a little unkind, but it is the 
welfare of the society, I take it, that should 
be the first consideration. 
The holding of an annual dinner is, in my 
opinion, one of the most effective ways of 
advertising a society and increasing the mem¬ 
bership. In the local society to which I 
belong the annual dinner is always a pre¬ 
assured success. Each member of the com¬ 
mittee takes a certain number of tickets for 
the dinner, and sells them to his friends and 
acquaintances. As a rule, it is the best 
attended function of the kind in the place, 
and helps largely in the obtaining of that 
constant flow of new blood, which is, after 
all, the source of continued life and energy, 
not only of horticultural societies, but of 
all kinds the world over. 
F Herbert CHA.rii.vN. 
Chrysanthemums. » 
. . . Seasonable Work, 
Chrysanthemum growers should now be on 
the look out for cuttings, with a view to the 
propagation of stock for another season. 
Various opinions have been expressed as to the 
advantages or disadvantages of an early start. 
I give it, as the result of a long experience, 
that the right time to insert cuttings of any 
and every variety is as soon as good ones can 
be obtained. By good ones, I mean healthy 
cuttings with two or three sets of leaves ; and, 
providing these leaves have a healthy, dark 
green colour, the cuttings cannot be too 
strong. For it should be borne in mind that 
whatever a plant is in its early stages of 
growth, it will retain those characteristics to 
the end. In a future article I intend to point 
out some of the dangers early-struck plants 
meet with, and how to avoid them. In taking 
cuttings from the old stools, they should be 
cut off just clear of the soil ; then, having 
been cut to a joint, and the bottom leaves re¬ 
moved, they should be inserted in sandy soil 
and placed in a close frame in a temperature 
of 50deg. to 55:leg., giving a little air each 
day to prevent them damping off. 
Of the newer exhibition varieties, the follow¬ 
ing have been well tried, and have given 
splendid results : — 
E. J. Brooks.—Plum colour ; reminds one 
m some ways of the older Pride of Madford, 
but the flower is larger and more massive. A 
very telling kind, and likely to be popular for 
some time to come. 
President Viger is one of the largest varie¬ 
ties ever seen. The colour—lilac mauve—is 
apt to fade a little around the sides of the 
flower, especially if the plant is subjected to 
a high temperature. It is unnecessary to do 
this, as the plant is of easy culture, and the 
flowers open readily in a cool house. This 
variety is an important one to exhibitors on 
account of its size. 
Mrs. W. Knox is a variety presenting a 
model exhibition flower, and from an early 
bud the colour is yellow ; but later buds give 
flowers with a suffusion of purplish-rose colour 
over the yellow, which does not add to the 
beauty of the flower—rather the reverse. 
Mrs. J. Dunn gives us a model white flower 
of the largest size, without a trace of coarse¬ 
ness. I lie flowers of this variety have been 
greatly admired wherever shown in good form ; 
and it. should not be a difficult matter to get 
them so*, as the plant is easily grown if not 
overmanured. 
Mrs. A. T. Miller is another white-flowered 
variety likely to be a favourite for many pur¬ 
poses, being early, of easy growth, and bear¬ 
ing handsome flowers. This must not be con¬ 
fused with the red “Mrs. Miller.” 
Mrs. T. Dalton, claret-crimson, is, in petal 
and colour, very like “ Mafeking Hero” ; and 
to those who know the latter variety, it will 
be sufficient to say that the flowers of Mrs. T. 
Dalton are much deeper in build, and that the 
plant is of dwarf, sturdy growth. 
It is generally a matter of no small satis¬ 
faction to a Chrysanthemum grower if among 
the many new kinds introduced for show pur¬ 
poses he can discover a variety that is an ad¬ 
vance on old kinds from a. decorative point of 
view. There have been a few such in recent 
years, of which mention will be made later. 
But for cutting purposes, and to come in 
immediately after the outdoor varieties have 
finished, I know of nothing in their respective 
colours of yellow, bronze, and white to beat 
Ryecroft Glory, Source D’Or, and Lady Sel- 
borne. For a red variety, Wm, Holmes, 
another old favourite, is still to the fore. 
Pluie d’Or has flowers of a pretty shade of 
yellow, and, being dwarf, and a profuse 
bloomer, is a real gem for small pots. 
Following the above in season of flowering, 
I may mention Niveus, white ; Lady Conyers’ 
pink ; Exmouth Rival, deep crimson ; Mrs. 
Greenfield, yellow ; and Godfrey’s King, 
bright red, as among the * 1 best for general 
decorative pmrposes 1 . 
Too much can hardly be said of Niveus as 
a decorative variety. A bush of it with about 
twenty good blooms makes a model Chrysan¬ 
themum plant. And to attain this result, the 
cuttings should be struck in December of the 
previous year, the plants pinched back about 
twice before the middle of June, and, on the 
appearance of buds, retaining only the centre 
one on each shoot. R. Barnes. 
[An article on current work amongst 
t hrysanthemums will appear monthly in 
future.—E d.] 
PEACHES 
PRACTICAL 
CULTURAL HINTS. 
Hie Peach, like many other subjects of the 
garden, has its peculiarities, and a total or 
partial disregard for its likes and dislikes 
always ends in disappointment and failure. 
I will therefore endeavour to set out just a 
few practical hints concerning their culture 
which are worthy of consideration. 
In the first place, do not plant them in a 
very rich compost, as this generally ends in 
their making long coarse roots with a corre¬ 
sponding growth above ground which is 
utterly useless. It is far better to plant them 
in poor soil than the above, as they make 
smaller and more fibrous roots, and they can 
always have better soil and stimulants added 
as they require it. Shoots which are larger 
than the stem of a churchwarden pipe will 
seldom mature fruit, although they may 
flower. 
My next point has regard to root pruning. 
Whenever it is noticed that a tree shows the 
least sign of rampant growth the roots should 
be pruned the following autumn, even if the 
tree was similarly treated the previous year, 
in which case it would be advisable to under¬ 
mine the tree as much as possible near the 
wall, as there may be some strong roots going 
downwards, and the younger the tree the 
shorter they should be cut back. Full details 
of this operation, however, appeared in the 
proper calendar at the right season (October). 
Pruning Above Ground.—I strongly dis¬ 
approve of hacking the trees about more than 
is absolutely necessary ; indeed, if the above 
system is well followed up it will not be neces¬ 
sary, beyond cutting out. the fruited shoots, to 
make room for the successional ones. Now 
and again, of course, a branch has to be cut 
away, and when this is done the greatest care 
is necessary in order that the wound may heal 
over without causing any “ ill ” after effects. 
In carefully looking over trees that have been 
heavily pruned it is no uncommon thing to 
see a line, or ridge, running down a particular 
branch from the point of an old cut ; this is 
caused by the drying up of the side that has 
been cut, whilst the other side continues to 
swell for a few years at least, but sooner or 
later the whole branch collapses, and this 
generally happens when the fruits are stoniim 
when the greatest demand is made on the 
energy of the tree, and the supply not forth¬ 
coming, owing to the natural channels beiim 
blocked, consequent upon the diseased portion 
gaining on that of the living. In taking out 
a branch, then, always cut as close back as 
possible, and if there are any signs of decayed 
wood, endeavour to cut it all out. I have 
sometimes had to use a carpenter’s chisel or 
gouge for the purpose, always taking care not 
to leave a cup-shaped depression likely to 
hold water, as that would cause it to decay 
afresh. J 
Another important point is that of water- 
m g- 1 is quite a mistake to suppose, ‘‘as 
some do, that the Peach or any other tree is 
asleep, as it were, in winter and requires no 
water. Nature points in the opposite direc¬ 
tion, and it will be noticed by anyone who 
takes the trouble to study the subject that the 
buds are gradually swelling up all the time, 
therefore if the roots are allowed to suffer 
toi want of moisture the dried up buds drop off 
in the spring, which often occasions much sur¬ 
prise and wonderment. 
Space will not allow of my goino- further 
into the subject in this article, so I will 
conclude by giving a list of varieties suitable 
tor outside culture, all of which I can con¬ 
fidently recommend as being of high quality 
and sure bearers. 
Early (late July), Rivers’ Early York 
(mid-August), Dr. Hogg (mid-August), Vio- 
lette Hativ© (late August), Dymond (late 
August), Bellegarde (mid-September), Sea 
Eagle (late September), Princess of Wales 
(late September and October). 
Nectarines : Early Rivers (end of August), 
\ ltmason Orange (late August), Victoria (late 
August), Dryden (end of September), Humbolt 
(mid-September), Pineapple (late September). 
E. Lawrence. 
