September 6,1913. 
THE GARDENERS’ MAGAZINE. 
673 
WORK AMONG 
CHRYSANTHEMUMS- 
Mildew is again crippling hundreds of 
chrysanthemum plants, and the largest and 
healthiest leaves seem to be those most 
severely attacked. Certain varieties, how¬ 
ever, have almost entirely escaped injury. 
1 have often wondered wliy they are more 
immune than others, and find that the 
undersides of the leaves appear to be more 
glossy and smoother than those which fall 
a ready prey to mildew. Few suffer more 
than that old favourite, F. S. Vallis, but 
Reginald Vallis and Madame G. Rivol are 
sometimes almost denuded of all their 
leaves through bad attacks of mildew. 
While the plants are outside I favour 
remedies applied in liquid form chiefly. 
When placed under glass fungicides in the 
form of either a .powder or spraying 
solution may be used. Where the attack 
is confined to a few leaves on a few plants 
only flowers of sulphur may be put on; 
but when the attack extends to many 
plants, and is quite general, a spraying 
solution is the best. I have not 
found anything better than a solu¬ 
tion of sulphide of potassium, pre¬ 
pared by dissolving one ounce in two 
and a-half gallons of clear water. It is, 
however, preferable to dissolve the rock 
sulphide in about one pint of water, then 
cork it up tightly in a glass or earthen¬ 
ware bottle for several days before mixing 
with the full quantity of water. Weak 
sulphide of potassium turns the water to 
the colour of milk, while the best sulphide 
makes the water resemble pale brandy, and 
discolours the woodwork brown when 
wetted wdth it. The undersides of the 
leaves of the plants should be thoroughly 
wetted when the solution is applied; a 
syringe fitted with a spraying nozzle being 
preferable for its application. To carry 
out the work as it should be place the 
plants on their sides on mats, or, better 
stin, in a long wooden trough sufficiently 
wide to contain the plant without bruising 
the leaves. The surplus liquid can then be 
^llected, and any waste avoided. Repeat 
the syringing just before the plants 
placed in the houses. On the day 
^y are housed dust some flowers of sul- 
^11 1 undersides of the leaves of 
au plants that have been treated for mildew 
outeide. If given fairly good treatment 
moer glass as regards ventilation, so as 
avoid draughts, the plants will not suffer 
ch from mildew before the show dates 
always do better if kept 
be open air as long as possible, but no 
purpose will be served if they are 
Knf j huds commence to open, 
if niay be done to the blooms 
outside after reaching that 
^nie of the very late-flowering 
Li the best as regards bearing 
exhibition standard and it is 
a/^rative that they be put under glass 
T n earlier date than the others. 
I “ timed ” a number of the 
^ guide to their treat- 
A although they can rarely 
on to come to time every 
varJof* found that by housing the 
f^^’nbble the last week in 
ter 11 buds showed colour on Octo- 
on fnlly developed blooms 
^tber this, and several 
XovPT«k° T varieties at their best on 
nuflpr ^ advisable to put the plants 
«f air September 18 . Abundance 
admitted to all such early- 
is a i' According to my experience 
13 ^ ^ ^ commence on September 
ing the plants on the floor of a 
suitable house every evening, or there¬ 
abouts, and taking them into the open air 
again every morning. By so doing they 
are not weakened, and the buds advance 
very considerably. 
Instead of arranging them all in groups^ 
and so closely packing them that the lower 
leaves are soon lost, stand individual spe¬ 
cimens of the best and new varieties in cdd 
corners of the structure, where plenty of 
light and air can reach them. 
George Garner. 
CUNNINGHAMIA SINENSIS. 
Upwards of a century has elapsed since 
this tree was introduc^ into British gar¬ 
dens, for it was originally sent home in 
are to be found between thirty and forty 
feet high, with trunks twelve to fifteen 
inches in diameter. As a rule, however, 
the older trees are less ornamental than 
the younger ones, for they lose their lower 
branches, and bewine very raggcnl without 
the nobility of aspect wdiich attaches to an 
old batter^ yew or Scots pine. In many 
gardens it is found w’ith several trunks 
springing from one rootstock, as is sliown 
by the present illustration. This can often 
be traced to the tree being killed to the 
ground line by a severe winter, such as was 
exi^erienoed in 1894 - 1895 . It is, however, 
one of several conifers which is able to 
regenerate itself by shoots springing from 
near the ground, and it is rarely that a 
severe winter kills a tree outright. 
CUNNINGHAMIA SINENSIS. 
A fine specimen in the gardens of Bury Hill, Dorking. 
1804 by Mr. William Kerr on behalf of 
the East India Company. A native of 
Southern China, it is too tender for general 
cultivation in the British Isles, although 
it is often met with in the southern and 
south-west counties. The accompanying 
illustration depicts a specimen gro^ng in 
the choice collection at Bury Hill, in Sur¬ 
rey, whilst other fine trees are to be found 
in the same county in the gardens of 
H.R.H. the Duchess of Albany, at Clare¬ 
mont and in the gardens of H.R.H. the 
Duke of Connaught, at Bagshot. In Devon¬ 
shire and Cornwall, however, it is met with 
as an even finer specimen, and examples 
The species is araucaria-like in character, 
the leaves being linear-lanceolate, and two 
to three inches long, sharp-pointed, and 
thick in texture. The cones resemble 
miniature araucaria cones, being rounded, 
and one to one and a-half inches in dia¬ 
meter. They are borne freely on trees in 
the gardens of Sir Thomas Dyke-A eland 
near Exeter, and at several other places. 
Although the tree is usually grown from 
seeds, it may also be increased by means of 
cuttings, the best being those obtained 
from the upright shoots which spring from 
a trunk that has been cut back in the 
course of a severe winter. W. D. 
