January  28,  i89?. 
JOURNAL  OP  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
n 
Chrysanthemum  Sports. 
Mr.  Henslow  will  be  greatly  obliged  to  cultivators  of  the  Chrys¬ 
anthemum  if  they  will  kindly  inform  him  of  any  sports  which  they  have 
had  daring  the  last  two  or  three  seasons,  and  to  state  the  name  of  the 
parent  plant  as  well  as  the  colours  of  the  flowers  of  both  parent  and 
sport ;  also  to  describe  any  special  treatment  the  parents  may  have  had. 
If  they  can  suggest  any  other  cause  of  the  sport  he  will  be  glad  to  know 
of  it. — Drayton  House,  Haling,  London ,  W. 
A  Chrysanthemum  Freak. 
A  FEW  days  ago,  when  going  through  the  gardens  at  Nuneham  Park, 
where  a  good  collection  of  Chrysanthemums  forms  a  striking  feature 
throughout  their  season  of  flowering,  Mr.  Nichols,  the  head  gardener, 
drew  my  attention  to  a  very  singular  flowering  sucker  of  the  variety 
Louise. 
From  a  plant  grown  in  an  8-inch  pot  that  had  been  cut  down  after 
flowering  there  emerged  from  the  stem,  about  an  inch  below  the  surface 
of  the  Boil,  an  adventitious  slender  leafless  shoot,  furnished,  however, 
with  a  few  diminutive  bracts  surmounted  with  a  flower  that  would  have 
as  suitably  crowned  a  season’s  normal  growth.  The  length  of  the  shoot 
is  barely  5  inches,  yet  the  diameter  of  the  flower  that  it  has  produced, 
measuring  beneath  the  extended  ray  florets,  is  over  6  inches,  the  whole 
appearing  very  much  as  though  it  had  been  cut  from  another  plant  and 
simply  inserted  in  the  soil. 
A  similar  instance  of  so  dwarf  a  sucker  producing  so  large  and  as 
perfectly  developed  a  flower  has  never  before  come  under  my  notice. 
Through  the  kindness  of  Mr.  Nichols  I  am  enabled  to  send  for  your 
inspection  the  detached  shoot  (fig.  20)  severed  about  half  an  inch  from 
the  stem  that  produced  it.  It  may  be  of  some  interest. — John  B. 
Jefferies. 
Hirsute  or  Hairy  Chrysanthemums. 
Mr.  Molyneux,  in  the  last  issue  of  the  Journal,  says  this  class  does 
not  seem  to  make  much  progress,  which  is  quite  correct  ;  but  this  is  not 
caused  through  lack  of  varieties,  but  rather  by  the  growers.  Very  few 
care  for  these.  Apparently  the  rage  for  size  has  much  to  do  with  their 
unpopularity,  for  all  are  deficient  in  this  point,  and  in  spite  of  all 
that  nas  been  said  and  written  on  the  subject  size  is  the  chief  point  with 
present-day  judges. 
From  one  to  two  dozen  novelties  are  introduced  every  season,  but  as 
they  lack  size  they  are  discarded.  This  past  season  I  have  grown  six 
new  sports  from  Louis  Boehmer,  but  all  were  dull  coloured  and  shaded 
from  pale  yellow  to  orange  and  buff.  These  were  introductions  from 
Japan  and  California.  Mr.  Molyneux  mentions  whites.  I  would  recom¬ 
mend  him  to  try  White  Swan.  It  is  about  the  size  of  Mrs.  A.  Hardy  or 
larger  ;  but  it  is  a  very  full  flower  on  any  bud,  and  extremely  hairy. 
Those  who  fancy  this  class  will  find  this  a  gem.  It  is  an  introduction 
from  California. — W.  J.  G.,  Exmouth. 
Sheffield  Chrysanthemum  Society. 
The  annual  meeting  of  this  Society  was  held  on  the  20th  inst.  at  the 
Museum,  Orchard  Street.  There  was  a  good  attendance  of  members, 
who  elected  Mr.  J.  G.  Newsham  to  the  chair.  The  business  of  the 
meeting  was  to  pass  the  accounts  for  the  past  season  and  to  elect  the 
officials  for  the  current  year.  At  the.  request  of  the  Chairman  the 
accounts  to  December  31st,  1896,  which  had  previously  been  audited  and 
passed,  were  read  by  the  Secretary,  Mr.  W.  Housley,  which,  after  a  few 
explanations,  were  unanimously  passed. 
The  result  of  the  past  year’s  working  was  in  a  nice  addition  to  the 
balance  in  hand  brought  forward  from  the  previous  year.  This  would 
have  been  considerably  increased  but  for  the  heavy  downfall  of  rain  that 
occurred  on  the  Saturday  night  of  the  show  at  a  time  when  the  visitors 
are  most  numerous. 
The  result  of  the  election  of  officers  is  that  most  of  the  old  members 
retain  their  seats.  A  vote  of  thanks  to  the  Auditors,  Messrs.  J.  Haigh 
and  W.  Redmill,  for  their  services  and  to  the  Chairman  terminated 
the  proceedings. 
ROOTING  CARNATION  CUTTINGS. 
Carnations  are  amongst  the  most  popular  flowers  that  we  have  a 
the  present  time,  and  the  majority  who  possess  glass  accommodation  are 
eager  to  cultivate  them  successfully.  The  inquiries  how  to  root  them 
by  means  of  cuttings  are  numerous. 
I  remember  some  years  ago  rooting  them  very  successfully  by  a 
system  detailed  by  Mr.  W.  Taylor  when  at  Longleat.  It  was  some¬ 
thing  like  this,  to  insert  the  cuttings  in  Brandy  soil  in  boxes  5  or  6  inches 
deep,  and  then  cover  them  with  glass  after  watering,  the  boxes  being 
rendered  air-tight  by  pasting  strips  of  paper  round  the  edges  of  the 
box.  When  these  boxes  were  given  alight  bottom  heat  we  found  the 
cuttings  rooted  freely  enough. 
I  cannot  say  I  have  been  very  successful  in  rooting  Carnations  by 
means  of  cuttings  for  some  years  past.  This  is  mainly  due  to  the 
want  of  a  suitable  place  and  the  aid  of  bottom  heat.  Failure  to  root 
cuttings  left  us  no  alternative  but  to  obtain  plants  by  layering  ;  certainly 
a  safe  and  reliable  method,  but  at  times  it  takes  up  more  room  than  can 
be  well  spared,  especially  at  certain  times'  -of  the  year. 
Not  caring  to  be  beaten  in  this  matter  we  made  an  effort  in  another 
direction  with  successful  results.  First  we  tried  a  10-inch  pot  half  full 
of  common  sand,  into  which  three  small  pots  of  Carnation  cuttings  were 
plunged,  the  pot  being  covered  with  glass,  and  then  stood  on  a  hot- 
water  pipe  in  a  house  where  the  temperature  ranged  from  60°  to  65°  at 
night.  These  cuttings  rooted  freely.  Our  plan  is  to  fill  boxes  1  foot  or 
15  inches  deep  partially  with  sand,  cocoa-nut  fibre  refuse  being  pre¬ 
ferred,  so  that  long  thumb  pots  can  be  partially  plungedjin  and  the  top 
of  the  cuttings  just  clear  of  the  glass. 
"The  sand  dries  rapidly  on  the  pipes,  and  must  be  made  moist  from 
time  to  time,  or  the  soil  about  the  cuttings  becomes  unduly  dried.  The 
cuttings  selected  are  young  growing  shoots  from  plants  in  a  cool  or 
moderately  cool  house.  Short  growths  are  selected,  in  fact  side  growths 
broken  out  of  the  axils  of  the  leaves  of  plants  that  are  flowering  or 
coming  into  flower.  Sandy  soil  is  used  for  the  small  pots,  and  four 
cuttings  are  inserted  round  the  sides.  It  iB  not  wise  to  crowdtthe 
cuttings,  with  some  varieties  three  cuttings  in  each  pot  are  better  than 
four.  After  insertion  the  pots  are  watered,  then  they  are  ready  for  the 
boxes,  and  covering  up  with  glass.  After  the  cuttings  are  broken  out 
of  the  axils  of  the  leaves  they  are  cut  across  with  a  sharp  knife  below 
FlGi  20. — A  chrysanthemum  freak  {much  reduced'). 
the  first  joint.  So  far  we  find  very  little  difference  whether  they  are 
cut  below  a  joint,  or  the  stem  split  up  to  the  second  joint. 
After  the  pots  are  placed  in  the  boxes  no  attempt  is  made  to  keep 
them  air-tight.  To  do  this  would  result  in  losing  all  the  cuttings  by 
damp.  By  keeping  the  sand  or  other  plunging  material  moist  in  the 
boxes  the  cuttings  would  be  constantly  covered  with  moisture,  and  failure 
would  result.  We  nearly  failed  by  keeping  them  too  close.  The  object 
should  be  to  keep  them  as  close  as  possible  consistent  with  evaporating 
the  moisture  deposited  upon  them  daily. 
Our  second  venture  in  rooting  on  the  hot-water  pipes  was  150 
cuttings  of  Mrs.  Leopold  de  Rothschild,  which  rooted  in  three  weeks, 
127  were  potted  singly,  sixteen  were  again  inserted,  really  losing  only 
seven  cuttings.  We  find  some  varieties  root  more  freely  and  more 
quickly  than  others.  Some  commence  rooting  in  a  fortnight.  If  given 
three  weeks  the  majority  will  root,  and  may  within  a  month  be  potted 
singly.  So  far  we  have  not  resorted  to  shading  the  cuttings,  at  least 
only  for  a  day  or  two  after  potting  them  singly  if  the  sun  comes  out 
bright. — Wm,  Bardney,  Osmaston  Manor. 
Perpetual  Spinach.  —  So  far  Winter  Spinach  has  not  felt  the 
pinch  of  winter,  but  a  good  breadth  of  “  Perpetual  Spinach  ”  and  some 
cold  frames  for  the  plants  will  be  useful  should  the  weather  prove 
severe  through  March,  when  it  is  a  wise  plan  to  take  up  some  and  place 
under  cover.  Oftentimes  March  winds  kill  more  than  frost.  I  have 
found  the  advantage  of  so  doing,  and  shall  lose  no  time  in  providing  for 
an  extra  dish  through  March.— A.  E. 
