674 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
October 24, 1908. 
A well-developed and firm bulb will 
flower better than a very large and im¬ 
perfectly ripened and soft one. As they 
get no assistance in the way- of manure 
under this system of treatment, that is, a 
strong reason why the very best ripened 
bulbs should be selected for flowering in 
water. 
Fig. 2 show's a bulb placed in position 
in the glass, with its base just touching 
the water. If submerged too deeply in 
the water it would be a disadvantage 
rather than otherwise, and might cause 
the bulb to decay if any part of it hap¬ 
pened to be injured. Indeed, the bulb 
need not touch the water at all, for it 
will commence to grow by reason of the 
moisture arising from the water imme¬ 
diately beneath it and the roots will pre¬ 
sently grow down into the water. At the 
same time if the base of the bulb just 
touches the water it will induce the emis¬ 
sion of roots more quickly by supplying 
moisture which the, bulb wants. This, 
therefore, is the best plan of starting 
them by placing the bulb just touching 
the water. 
Many would-be cultivators are in doubt 
as to what they should do with the glasses 
after the bulbs have been placed in posi¬ 
tion. Some place them in a dark cup¬ 
The early autumn exhibition of Chry¬ 
santhemums of the National Chrysanthe¬ 
mum Society was held at the Crystal 
Palace, Sydenham, on the 7th and 8th 
inst., when a beautiful display was got 
together, not altogether of Chrysanthe¬ 
mums, but certainly a good show: Large 
blooms were not present in such numbers 
as we have seen them at the October 
show, but decorative varieties were in 
great abundance. The weather was fine, 
but the attendance was not very good, 
except in the evening. 
The leading prize for a floral display 
of Chrysanthemums in the form of plants 
and cut flowers was taken by Mr. !. 
Brazier, Addison Road, . Caterham, Sur¬ 
rey. He had Chrysanthemums in bamboo 
stands behind his semi-circular group, 
with large flowering Chrysanthemums in 
pots forming the centre and early flower¬ 
ing varieties in vases. Messrs. J. Peed 
and Son, West Norwood, London, took 
the second place with a similar group. 
The best twenty-four blooms of Japan¬ 
ese Chrysanthemums in eight varieties to 
be shown in vases were those of Mr. H. 
Parr (gardener to F. A. Bevan, Esq.), 
Trent Park, New Barnet. He had good 
blooms of Valerie Greenham, Lady Hen¬ 
derson, Mrs. P. Chittenden, Mrs. R. 
Hooper Pearson, Sappho, Formality and 
Mrs. George Mileham, the two last being 
the best. 
Mr. Martin Silsbury, Shanklin, Isle of 
Wight, had the best twelve blooms. of 
Japanese, including Glory, Shanklin and 
several other varieties of his own raising, 
as well as Algernon Davis, Bessie God¬ 
frey, Valerie Greenharri and Mrs. T. F. 
Coster. He received a First-class Cer¬ 
tificate for Shanklin. Air. G. Halsey 
board, and others stand them in some 
warm position either on a shelf or near- 
the stove of the kitchen fire. When 
placed in a dark' 'position out of sight 
the chances' are that the bulbs will be 
forgotten until they have grown more 
than is desirable in this dark place. 
Neither do we think it advisable to place 
them near the warmth of a stove, as the 
leaves may be induced to grow at the ex¬ 
pense of the bulbs, with the result that 
they get too long"and commence to fall 
down over the sides of the glasses at an 
early stage of growth. Those who care 
to do so can place the glasses in the win¬ 
dow at once and leave them there for the 
winter, and they will grow slowly and 
steadily according to the heat of the 
room, but if they are close to the glass 
from the beginning the leaves are not 
liable to get drawn as when they are 
started in any position : away from the 
light. . 
F ig. 3 shows another method of treat¬ 
ing them, namely, to make , a cone of 
paper. .and pin it so that it will just cover 
the top of the’glass' like a candle extin¬ 
guisher and keep the bulb in the dark-for 
a time. This will encourage the growth 
of the ’ flower , stem even slightly in ad¬ 
vance of the leaves, and that’is.an advan¬ 
tage, because a flower stem that gets the 
(gardener to Mrs. Jeremiah Lyon), Rid- 
dings Court, Caterham Valley, took the 
second place and Mr. H. Parr came in 
third. 
In the class for six blooms of Japanese, 
the lead was taken by Mr. A. C. Horton 
(gardener to T. L. 13 oyd, Esq.), North 
Erith, Tonbridge, with very fine blooms 
of Mrs. A. T. Miller, Marquis V. Ve- 
nosta and Airs. George Mileham. Mr. 
F. Blackith (gardener to Mrs. Ford), 
Parkside, Ravenscourt Park, Middlesex, 
took the second prize; and Mr. F. J. 
Brown (gardener to Mrs. Langworthy), 
Gay’s House, Holyport, came in third. 
Air. John Smellie, Pansy Gardens, 
Busby, Glasgow, had the loest twelve 
bunches of early flowering Pompons, 
showing Piercy’s Seedling, Flora, Scar¬ 
let Gem, Blushing Bride, Fred Peale, 
Canarii, Mr. Selly, Alice Butcher, Fil- 
berta, St. Croutts and Mignon. Mr. G. 
Halsey had the best two vases of nine 
blooms each and was followed by Air. 
F. Blackith. 
Air. A. Hawkins, Gordon Road, Eal¬ 
ing, had the first prize for twelve bunches 
grown in the open air and not disbudded. 
He was followed by Mr. H. Parr. Sev¬ 
eral of the best exhibits in this class .were 
disqualified, because not according to 
the schedule.- Air. A. Hawkins had the 
best twelve bunches of early flowering 
varieties disbudded. 
In the: class for floral decoration of 
Chrysanthemums for a dinner table, 
there were. no less than eleven entries, 
making quite a feature, of the show. The 
best table was that of Air. T. W. Stevens 
(gardener to W. H. Stone, Esq.), Don- 
nington, Laurie Park, Sydenham. His 
flowers consisted of yellow and bronze 
start of the leaves is likely to keep 
through the other stages of developmei 
provided the glasses are stood close 
the light all the time while growth is d 
velojfing. This method, if carried 0 
properly until the flower stem and bu 
have pushed an inch above the bulb, 
the best which could be adopted, as 
comes nearest to the plan ot plungii 
pots containing bulbs in cocoanut. fibrf 
ashes until "the bulbs have made an in- 
of growth. There is, of course, anoth 
reason for placing some material o\ 
the top of pots containing bulbs, but 
does not apply in the case of Hyacint 
grown in glasses. 
Fig. 4 shows the stage of growth whi< 
the bulbs should reach while covered 1 
with this cone of paper. After that th< 
should be fully exposed to all the ava 
able light in the window. If the flow 
stem has grown slightly in advance 
the leaves and the light of the window 
good, the leaves will" always be short 
than the flower stems and stand ere< 
This is a result that should be aimed 
by every cultivator of Hyacinths 
glasses. The flowers, then, show to be 
advantage when just surmounting a tu 
of bright green leaves of moderate leng 
and stout in proportion. 
Chrysanthemums with autumn tintt 
foliage, and the arrangement was ve, 
light and graceful. Indeed, yellow ar 
bronze were the prevailing tints among 
the Chrysanthemums used in all of U 
floral decorations. The second prize w, 
taken by Mrs. H. L. Sell, Kemptc 
Villa, Luton, and Air. R. Edwards (ga 
dener to C. A. Morris Field, Esq. 
Beechy Lees, Sevenoaks, was third. 
Air. A.. W. Trossell, 12, The Parad* 
Beckenham, had the. best three epergrn 
of Chrysanthemums in which the usu; 
colours were employed. He was followe 
by Aliss C. B. Cole, The Vmeyari 
Feltham, and Air. G. Knights, Pai 
Field Stables, Border Crescent, Sydei 
ham, in this order. 
In the class for a floral decoration - 
Chrysanthemums for dinner table, opt 
only to amateurs, the lead was taken 1: 
Mr." A. W. Trossell. He was followe 
by Air. J. W. Harrison (gardener to I 
Girvin, Esq.), Ashbourne, Laurie Pai 
Gardens, Sydenham. The third pri. 
was taken by Aliss E. H.. Ekins, Rusl 
den, St. Albans. There were five entri'j 
in this class. 
The prizes offered for a hand bask 
of autumn foliage and berries from tl 
open air brought some very' bold ar 
handsome arrangements of these autuir 
tints and berries. The first prize vn 
taken by Miss C. B. Cole, with a huj 
basket, including Honesty, Gladwyn In 
berries of Crataegus, Blackberrie, 
Rose heps, Snowberry, Hops, fruits ( 
Clematis Vitalba, flowers of Statice -Boil 
duelli, leaves of the purple Plum, purp 
Barberry, etc. All these and more shoj 
what a wealth of material is at hand fir 
the decoration of baskets and other flor. 
display's in the Rome. Aliss E. H. Ekiij 
was second, and Miss J. Martin, 9 > 
caster Road, South Norwood, came t 
third. Besides the above, there was 
considerable amount of floral decoratio 
in smaller classes. 
Chrysanthemums at the Crystal Palace. 
Exhibition of the N.C.S. 
