December  5,  1895. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
533 
Me.  W.  H.  Lees. 
Admirably  as  have  many  growers  of  Chrysanthemums  acquitted 
themselves  in  the  competitive  arena  in  the  late  greatjFloral  campaign, 
it  will  be  conceded  that  this  comparatively  young  gardener  thas  won  a 
distinguished  position.  He  has  as  a  matter  of  fact  defeated  all  comers 
in  the  chief  classes  at  the  best  shows  at  which  he'has  exhibited  the 
blooms  that  he  has  grown  so  splendidly  for  Mr.  Sevan,  at  Trent  Park, 
Barnet,  and  staged  so  well  for  himself. 
So  signal  has  been  Mr,  Lees’  success  that  few  if  any  growers  of 
blooms  will  dispute  his  right  to  be  regarded  in  that  section  as  the 
champion  of  1895.  He  reminds  us  of  Mr,  E.  Molyneux’s/conquering 
career  a  few  years  ago,  and  may  be  fairly  described  as  a  modern 
Molyneux,  and  more — the  “  more  ”  referring  to  the]  Japanese  blooms,  for 
while  Mr.  Lees  has  not 
staged  better  incurved 
than  the  ex-champion 
did,  there  were  no  such 
Japanese  varieties  grown 
then  as  now. 
It  will  doubtless  be 
interesting  to  many 
readers  of  the  Journal 
of  Horticulture  to  know 
where  this  grower’s  suc¬ 
cesses  were  scored.  To 
commence  at  the  early 
part  of  the  season  we 
must  mention  the  show 
at  the  Crystal  Palace 
early  in  November,  when 
two  first  prizes  were 
annexed.  One  was  for 
thirty-six  Japanese  in 
not  less  than  twenty- 
four  varieties,  nor  more 
than  two  blooms  of  any 
one  variety ;  and  the 
other  for  twenty-four 
incurved  blooms  in  noc 
more  than  eighteen 
varieties.  The  next  ap¬ 
pearance  was  at  the 
Eoyal  Aquarium,  at  the 
great  show  of  the 
National  Chrysanthe¬ 
mum  Society,  when  a 
splendid  record  was 
made.  In  the  trophy 
class  for  twenty -four 
Japanese,  and  the  same 
number  of  incurved, 
open  to  Societies  affili¬ 
ated  to  the  N.C.S.,  Mr. 
Lees  supplied  all  the 
blooms  in  the  winning 
stand  shown  by  the 
Southgate  Chrysanthe¬ 
mum  Society,  besides 
Securing  the  Holmes’ 
Memorial  cups  both  for 
thirty -six  distinct  incurved,  and  for  forty-eight  distinct  Japanese,  and 
all  the  blooms,  it  need  scarcely  be  said,  were  magnificently  shown. 
But  Mr.  Lees  did  not  win  all  his  honours  at  London  shows  ;  on  the 
contrary,  he  made  a  long  journey  northward,  visiting  Hull  and 
Edinburgh,  as  exhibitors  at  these  two  great  exhibitions  know  to  their 
cost.  Commencing  at  Hull  on  November  13th,  he  secured  the  silver 
cup  offered  for  twenty-four  distinct  Japanese,  and  a  like  honour  for  a 
similar  number  of  blooms  of  the  incurved  type.  Not  content  with  these 
two,  he  also  appropriated  the  premier  award  in  the  class  for  twelve 
distinct  incurved,  staging  in  each  instance  superb  flowers.  The  follow¬ 
ing  day  (November  14th)  found  him  at  Edinburgh  pitted  against  the 
best  of  the  Scottish  growers,  and  here  again  signal  success  crowned  the 
efforts  that  had  been  made.  At  this  meeting  there  is  offered,  as  every¬ 
one  who  has  visited  the  autumn  shows  held  in  the  Northern  metropolis  j 
knows,  a  cup  valued,  at  £20  sterling,  for  a  stand  of  Japanese  Chrys¬ 
anthemums  in  forty-eight  distinct  varieties,  and  this,  following  in  the  ' 
track  of  the  several  others,  also  had  to  come  to  Barnet,  a  wind  up  being 
made  with  the  first  prize  in  the  class  for  thirty-six  Japanese  on  long 
stems  arranged  in  vases,  the  varieties'not  to  number  less  than  six. 
From  this  brief  recapitulation  it  will  readily  be  seen  that  Mr.  Lees 
has  taken  premier  position  initen  classes  at  the  various  exhibitions,  and 
in  addition  to  half  of  them  there  has  been  a  silver  cup,  the  most 
valuable  of  which  was  that  of  thepEdinburgh  Society.  It  is  obvious, 
too,  that  this  exhibitor  seeks’only  to  oppose  foemen  worthy  of  his  steel, 
as  at  the  shows  he  has  visited  and  been  so  successful  would  be  found  the 
products  of  many  of  the  best  growers  throughout  the  length  and 
breadth  of  the  land.  This  of  course  makes  his  success  the  more 
creditable,  and  it  may  well  ,be  added  the  more  remarkable,  as  it  is 
a  vastly  different  affair  to  go  in  and  win  at  a  small  local  show,  to 
exhibiting  at  a  large  one  where  theikeenest  competition  is  found. 
Mr.  Lees  was  a  pupil 
of  the  late  Mr.Wildsmitb , 
who  told  us  that  his 
then  youthful  foreman 
“  would  have  to  be 
reckoned  with  some 
day.”  The  famous 
veteran  thought  highly 
of  his  assistant  both  in 
conduct  and  capacity, 
and  left  to  him  the  only 
gold  cup  that  has  ever 
been  won  for  Chrysan¬ 
themums  in  this  country 
— namely,  at  Devizes, 
in  the  year  1887. 
Mr.  Lees  owes  his 
success  to  his  cultural 
knowledge,  and  his  close 
attention  to  all  details, 
or  in  other  words  doing 
what  is  needed  at  the 
right  time.  It  is  this 
habit  that  has  made  him 
what  he  is — a  sterling 
gardener,  and  a  master 
in  the  art  of  growing 
and  showing  Chrys¬ 
anthemums.  He  is  as 
modest  and  unassum¬ 
ing  as  he  is  competent, 
and  we  have  pleasure  in 
letting  the  world  see 
what  manner  of  man 
he  is.  It  may  be  well 
to  add,  in  conclusion, 
that,  while  blooms  are 
taken  in  somewhat  large 
numbers  for  exhibition 
purposes,  sufficient  still 
remain  for  decorative 
use,  for  w’hich  they  are 
highly  appreciated.  We 
understand  that  only 
just  over  600  plants  are 
grown  for  the  produce- 
tion  of  large  blooms. 
Mr.  Harman  Payne’s  Collection  op  Coloured  Engravings. 
At  the  recent  Chrysanthemum  show  held  by  the  Scci^te  Horticole 
Dauphinoise  Mr.  Harman  Payne’s  collection  of  coloured  engravings  of 
Chrysanthemums  was  awarded  a  large  silver  medal  by  the  ]ury.  This 
award  was  subsequently  altered  by  the  Conseil  d’Administration  of  the 
Society  to  a  large  silver-gilt  medal,  as  they  considered  Mr.  Payne’s 
exhibit  of  a  specially  interesting  and  meritorious  nature.  A  fortnight 
liter  the  same  collection  was  staged  at  the  Lyons  Chrysanthemum  show, 
and  received  the  silver-gilt  medal  of  the  Societe  d’Horticulture  Pratique 
du  Khone,  under  whose  auspices  the  Lyons  show  was  held.  It  is  worthy 
of  note  that  the  collection  has  not  been  exhibited  in  public  since  the 
year  1889,  when  it  received  similar  recognition  at  the  Ghent  Centenary 
Chrysanthemum  exhibition,  and  in  the  meantime  has  been  considerably 
enlarged.  It  contains  a  large  number  of  authentic  illustrations  of 
varieties  originally  imported  from  China,  and  grown  here  in  the  early 
part  of  the  century. 
Fig.  80.— MR.  W.  H.  LEES. 
