98 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
Februar}'  1,  1£00. 
Madame  Carnot. 
This  variety,  which  is  so  well  known  and  highly  esteemed  by  all 
Chrysanthemums  growers,  as  already  recorded  in  this  Journal,  has 
produced  an  interesting  sport  that  is  described  as  being  of  a  bright 
crimson  which  will  he  likely  to  become  as  popular  as  its  parent, 
provided  all  goes  well  with  it. 
The  feeling  that  the  announcement  of  its  advent  probably  at  first 
occasioned  to  the  majority  of  the  legion  of  specialists  was  one  of  surprise, 
and  in  the  absence  of  any  authentic,  or  very  definite,  information 
respecting  its  origin,  the  question  of  it  being  the  offspring  of  one  of 
the  sports  of  Madame  Carnot  naturally  arose.  This,  if  being  the  case, 
mrant  the  production  of  a  secondary  sport  of  a  crimson  colour  from  a 
yellow  variety  derived  from  a  white  flowered  parent. 
In  any  case  the  sport  is  a  most  interesting  one,  from  the  fact  of  the 
parent,  itself  in  the  fore  rank  of  standard  white  varieties,  having 
produced  sports  of  such  varying  colours.  It  seems  that  with  highly 
cultivated  plants,  as  with  men,  it  is  generally  the  unexpected  that 
happens. 
The  silent  methods  of  Nature  with  regard  to  both  the  distribution 
and  limitation  of  colours  in  flowers,  and  the  surprising  changes  effected 
in  some  of  them,  are  very  mysterious,  and  the  various  stages  of  their 
progression  are  difficult  to  trace.  Indeed,  when  the  most  precise 
records  are  obtained  through  careful  observations,  it  is  by  no  means 
certain  that  a  general  principle  can  be  established  that  would  avail 
very  much  in  elucidating  the  subject  in  relation  to  the  order  of  their 
evolution.  But  this  is  a  digression. 
To  revert  to  the  sport  in  question,  which,  it  is  said,  is  another  and 
very  distinct  one  produced  by  Madame  Carnot  from  a  plant  in  the 
possession  of  Mr.  F.  Perkins  of  Oxford,  and  if,  as  we  have  been 
informed,  it  was  the  only  one  of  this  variety  that  he  reserved  for  stock 
purposes,  the  circumstance  of  its  appearance  and  security  must  be 
considered  as  singularly  fortunate. — John  E.  Jefferies. 
Chrysanthemum  Damp. 
My  first  experience  with  ibis  annoying  disease  was  in  this  wise.  On 
a  certain  Tuesday  in  1898  I  was  worshipping  what  to  my  poor  efforts 
appeared  to  me  a  glorious  bloom  of  Mutual  Friend ;  its  lovely 
whiteness  charmed  me.  The  following  day  I  returned  to  my  Friend, 
prepared  to  bestow  a  similar  amount  of  admiration.  To  my  horror, 
many  of  the  petals  had  very  small  pink  spots  scattered  over  them, 
and  referring  to  Mr.  Molyneux’s  book,  I  made  up  my  mind  that  this 
must  be  the  so-called  damp.  By  the  following  day  these  had  greatly 
increased  in  size,  and  the  beauty  of  the  bloom  was  utterly  marred.  I 
cut  it,  and  took  it  to  my  cook,  who  is  a  worshipper  of  flowers  from 
their  cradle  to  the  grave  ;  no  stage  of  decay  seems  to  come  amiss  to 
her.  Death,  floral  death,  still  appears  to  have  charms  for  her  !  After 
lamentations  over  the  bloom  it  was  placed  in  water  ;  the  disease  went 
on  rapidly,  and  by  Saturday  night  it  was  a  mass  of  brown  rotten 
petals.  Later,  blooms  of  klrs.  G.  Gover  and  others  went  in  the  same 
way,  and  my  small  array  was  sadly  disfigured. 
So  much  for  that  year.  Last  October,  on  housing  the  plants,  I 
started  the  fire,  giving  generally  some  small  ventilation  at  night, 
increasing  it  during  the  day.  I  saw  nothing  of  my  enemy  till  a 
few  days  after  the  opening  of  November,  when  there  was  a  good 
show  of  bloom,  and  I  had  picked  out  a  respectable  six  for  a  stand  I 
bad  entered  at  a  neighbouring  exhibition.  The  weather  was  so  very 
mild  that  I  dropped  my  fire  altogether  for  two  or  three  days,  and 
about  the  third  day  Mutual  Friend,  Madame  Carnot,  Mrs.  Mease,  and 
G.  J.  Warren,  and  some  other  whites,  were  all  hopelessly  spotted — 
blooms  I  had  hoped  to  show.  I  immediately  put  on  the  fire  again, 
and  dusted  the  blooms  well  with  anti-blight  powder  from  my  bellows. 
This  certainly  appeared  to  me  to  check  the  mischief,  so  that  many  of 
the  flowers  retained  their  spotted  condition,  which  at  a  distance  was 
scarcely  noticeable.  I  may  say  that  my  plants  were  more  crowded 
than  I  like,  and  supposing  the  condition  to  be  contagious  it  is,  of 
course,  an  evil. 
There  is  another  point  that  struck  me,  which  is,  that  the  terminal 
blooms  were  affected  far  more  frequently  than  the  crowns.  Markedly, 
was  this  the  case  with  two  of  the  reddish  bronze  colour — Mrs.  G. 
Gover  and  Jos.  Chamberlain.  On  the  same  plant,  the  former  had  one 
crown  and  three  terminals,  the  latter  one  crown  and  two  terminals. 
In  both  the  crowns  escaped,  whilst  the  terminals  succumbed.  With 
the  exceptiop^f,  these  two  the  disease  appeared  to  fasten  on  the  whites 
and  the  ps^  ,  jllows — Mutual  Friend,  Rose  Wynne,  Mrs.  H.  Weeks, 
with  Madffme  Carnot  and  its  sports.  I  have  only  half-dczen  incurved. 
and  of  these  Duchess  of  Fife  alone  was  touched.  It  is  hard  to  say 
whether  shutting  off  the  fire  had  anything  to  do  with  the  incoming  of 
the  trouble,  but  I  feel  convinced  that  the  anti-blight  did  arrest  the 
trouble,  and  seeing  that  prevention  is  better  than  cure,  hope  another 
season  to  try  and  forestall  the  enemy  by  dusting  early. — Y.  B,  A.  Z. 
Crimson  Carnot. 
In  reply  to  “  Sceptic,”  page  78,  I  should  like  to  state  a  few  facts 
about  this  plant,  which  originated  nearly  100  miFs  from  Earlswcod. 
The  owner  wrote  asking  me  what  a  crimson  sport  from  Madame  Carnot 
was  worth,  and  I  could  not  resist  the  journey  to  see  the  flower, 
although  I  felt  sure  it  would  be  a  wild  goose  chase,  as  I  have  had 
several  such.  I  was  soon  on  the  spot,  and  sure  enough  there  was 
Madame  Carnot  in  foliage  and  growth,  with  a  John-Shrimpton-like 
flower  on  the  top.  The  plant  was  a  poor  starveling  in  a  5-inch  pot, 
which  may  account  for  the  shortness  of  the  florets,  but  there  was  no 
mistaking  the  parent  variety  in  other  respects.  For  the  general  satis¬ 
faction  I  am  leaving  the  top  eyes  on  the  old  stem,  in  hope  that  they 
will  show  flower  buds,  and  if  so  I  shall  send  specimens  to  the  Editor.  I 
only  hope  they  will  come  the  same  colour  as  before. — W.  Wells. 
How  quickly  “Sceptic”  has  forgotten  of  the  existence  of  a  Yellow 
Carnot.  Was  not  G.  J.  Warren  sent  out  under  the  name  of  Yellow 
Carnot,  the  name  being  persisted  in  until  it  was  lound  necessary  to 
drop  it  ?  Does  not  “  Sceptic  ”  assume  a  tone  applicable  to  the  sour  Grape 
fable  about  this  Crimson  Carnot  prodigy  ?  What  has  the  introducer 
of  Red  L.  Canning  to  say  to  the  assertion  made  on  page  78  by 
“  Sceptic  ?” — Observer. 
Decorative  Chrysanthemums. 
Once  again  Mr.  Molyneux  furnishes  information  which,  to  the 
gardener  who  has  an  extensive  supply  of  cutting  material  to  furnish 
over  a  long  period,  is  most  valuable,  and  particularly  to  a  section  of  the 
Journal  readers  who  have  not  the  means  of  proving  newer  varieties 
for  this  particular  purpose.  There  is  a  limit  to  the  number  of 
Chrysanthemums  that  can  be  accommodated  by  many  of  the  smaller 
growers,  divided  between  decorative  sorts  and  those  to  carry  specimen 
blooms,  and  to  these  the  advice  given  by  Mr.  Molyneux  is  most 
acceptable. 
There  is  with  every  class  of  grower  a  desire  to  obtain  the  most 
up-to-date  his  means  will  allow,  and  to  embark  on  a  speculative 
selection  from  catalogues  often  leads  to  results  that  are  not  desirable. 
Chrysanthemums  play  such  an  important  part  in  the  embellishment 
of  dwelling  rooms  in  winter,  both  in  a  cut  state  and  in  pots,  that 
the  matter  of  selection  is  an  all-important  one,  and  it  is  distinctly 
enhanced  when  there  is  an  additional  claim  from  the  conservatory, 
which,  with  the  dwelling  rooms,  must  be  kept  gay  the  winter 
through.  Monotony  is  favoured  when  the  same  old  sorts  are  grown 
year  alter  year  without  the  introduction  of  some  fresh  stock. 
I  quite  agree  with  Mr.  Molyneux,  that  R.  Hooper  Pearson  is  the 
finest  yellow-flowered  variety  for  decorative  work,  and  although  a 
November  flowerer,  no  doubt  by  pinching  and  cool  treatment  it  might 
be  had  well  into  December.  It  would  seem  that  for  the  purpose 
of  specimen  blooms  it  has  not  sufficient  size  to  satisfy  growers,  but 
its  loss  in  that  section,  if  this  is  so,  must  he  a  gain  in  the  other.  As  a 
conservatory  plant  it  apparently  possesses  every  quality.  For  January 
flowering  the  Queen  is  said  to  be  the  best  among  whites.  In  a  se.arch 
through  some  catalogues  I  failed  to  find  this  quoted,  and  therefore  I 
take  it  to  be  quite  new,  and  a  speciality  from  a  nursery  from  whom  I 
have  no  list  by  me. 
For  January  flowering  sorts  there  is  always  an  inquiry,  and 
Chrysanthemum  specialists  having  a  stock  would  do  well  to  bring 
them  before  the  notice  of  readers  by  advertising  them  by  name,  so 
that  prospective  growers  would  know  the  source  from  which  they  can 
be  obtained.  There  are  not  many  varieties,  either  new  or  old,  that 
can  be  claimed  to  be  January  flowering  under  natural  conditions. 
While  propagation  is  still  in  progress  this  hint  may  be  advantageously 
acted  upon,  both  for  ihe  benefit  of  the  grower  and  producer. 
— w.  s.,  rms. 
Davallia  rufescens  TRiPiNNATiFiDA. — Lovers  of  Ferns  need  not 
be  deterred  from  growing  this  splendid  stove  variety  on  account  of 
its  somewhat  long  name,  for  it  almost  surpasses  all  the  Davallias  when  a 
well  grown  plant  is  met  with.  Stately  and  erect  it  stands,  needing  no 
support,  its  long  plumed  fronds  of  a  somewhat  pale  green  colour 
giving  tone  to  any  exhibition  collection ;  in  fact,  for  this  purpose  it  is 
specially  to  be  commended,  being  a  capital  traveller  and  adding  weight 
with  the  judges  by  reason  of  its  quality.  Good  fibrous  peat,  round 
red  sandstone,  a  few  lumps  of  charcoal,  and  a  surfacing  of  fresh 
sphagnum  moss  provide  the  compost  requirements,  not  overdosing  with 
water  until  the  rhizomes  wend  their  way.  In  the  winter  time  less 
water  is  most  certainly  required ;  but  on  no  account  place  in  a  colder 
atmosphere,  or  a  mishap  will  soon  occur. — R.  P.  R. 
