578 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
December  19;  1896. 
Chrysanthemum  Wm.  Slogrove. 
Once  again  we  would  call  the  attention  of  readers  to  a  new  Chrys¬ 
anthemum,  and  this  time  it  is  such  an  one  as  promises  to  be  admirably 
suited  for  the  back  row  of  a  stand.  At  a  recent  meeting  of  the  Eoyal 
Horticultural  Society,  where  it  was  shown  by  Mr.  Wm.  Slogrove, 
gardener  to  Mrs.  Crawford,  Gatton,  Eeigate,  an  award  of  merit  was 
accorded  to  it.  As  may  be  seen  by  glancing  at  the  illustration  (fig.  88) 
it  belongs  to  the  incurved  Japanese  section  ;  in  fact,  it  is  almost  an 
incurved.  The  beauty  is  of  the  massive  imposing  style,  the  blooms  being 
of  immense  depth,  width,  and  solidity.  In  addition  to  its  size  it 
possesses  another  recommendation  in  its  beautiful  clear  yellow  colour, 
which  renders  it  doubly  conspicuous.  At  a  meeting  of  the  Floral  Com¬ 
mittee  of  the  National  Chrysanthemum  Society  this  variety  received  a 
first-class  certificate.  We  understand  that  Mr.  W.  Wells,  Earlswood 
Nurseries,  Eed  Hill,  has  secured  the  stock  of  this  novelty. 
National  Chrysanthemum  Society. 
A  MEETING  of  the  Floral  Committee  of  this  Society  took  place  on 
the  11th  inst.  at  the  Eoyal  Aquarium,  when  Mr.  T.  Bevan  occupied 
the  chair.  There  was  only  a  small  gathering  of  members  and  exhibitors, 
and  the  following  awards  were  made  : — First-class  certificates  to 
Mrs,  R.  W.  E.  Murray. — A  fine  globular  Japanese  variety,  very 
full  and  double,  and  deeply  built  with  narrow  florets  closely  inter¬ 
mingling,  forming  a  compact  bloom  of  great  value  for  the  show 
board.  Colour  pure  paper  white.  Shown  by  Mr.  E.  W.  E.  Murray  of 
Edinburgh. 
Jannette  Sheahan. — An  attractive  decorative  and  market  variety,  a 
sport  from  the  late  variety  Princesse  Blanche.  Colour  yellowish  buff. 
Shown  by  Mr.  D.  Sheahan  of  Wimbledon. 
For  a  collection  of  cut  blooms  staged  in  bottles  and  in  vases 
Mr.  E.  Owen  of  Maidenhead  was  awarded  the  Society’s  small  silver 
medal.  Other  varieties  of  promise  were  H.  W.  Eieman,  an  American 
raised  yellow  Japanese  incurved  ;  Goldfield,  a  decorative  Japanese  of  a 
similar  shade  of  colour  ;  Mrs.  C.  E.  Shea  as  shown  was  a  reflexed 
Japanese  white,  tinted  yellow  ;  Marie  Vallean,  a  fine  Japanese  incurved 
pale  pink.  Bellem,  somewhat  similar  in  form  but  lighter  in  colour, 
and  Madame  Eugene  Mercier  were  also  in  fairly  good  form. 
N.C.S.  Expenditure. 
It  is  not  my  place  as  a  mere  non-official  or  exhibiting  member  to 
defend  the  expenditure  of  the  Committee  as  complained  of  by  “  An 
Exhibitor;”  but  can  he  really  think  that  because  he  is  an  exhibitor  at 
the  Society’s  shows  that  he  is  also  entitled  to  be  invited  to  partake  of 
a  lunch  every  time  the  judges,  sit  down  to  one?  Would  he  be  an 
exhibitor  were  there  no  prizes  or  else  some  trade  benefit  t  ( be  obtained  ? 
Why,  then,  should  he  expect  to  be  invited  to  lunches  1  So  far  as  I 
know  the  lunches  are  severely  limited  to  officials  who  have  to  perform 
all  the  work  of  the  Society  through  the  year,  and  whether  of  the  officers 
or  the  Committee,  at  considerable  expense  to  themselves  through  the 
autumn,  or  at  other  times  when  Committee  or  general  meetings  are  held. 
A  lunch  on  the  show  days,  and,  I  believe,  to  the  bulk  of  the  Committee 
on  the  first  November  show  day  only,  is  this  given.  Is  that  too  gieat  a 
reward  for  a  year’s  labour  and  expense  personally  ?  Surely  only  a  dog 
in  the  manger  would  make  such  a  selfish  complaint.  “An  Exhibitor” 
says  he  objects  to  the  principle.  What  principle  ?  Does  he  mean  the 
giving  of  a  lunch  to  the  Committee  and  officials  who  have  worked  hard 
for  some  hours  previously,  or  to  the  judges,  who  are  also  paid  their  fees  ? 
Surely  he  knows  that  judges  are  invited  to  lunch  everywhere  at  every 
show.  Why,  then,  object  to  the  principle  in  this  particular  case.  He 
writes  as  a  disappointed  man.  The  general  meeting  will  soon  be  held, 
and  when  the  accounts  are  presented  he  can  criticise.  If  the  accounts 
are  wrong,  or  items  are  unauthorised  or  too  lavish,  that  is  the  time  and 
place  to  protest. — A.  M.  N.C.S. 
The  N.C.S.  Eules  and  Awards  of  the  Floral  Committee. 
Surely  Mr.  Briscoe  Ironside  is  in  error  when  he  says  that  the  Floral 
Committee  do  not  award  certificates  unless  the  majority  of  the  members 
present  vote  for  them.  I  remember  that  at  one  of  the  meetings  a  variety 
was  certificated  by  four  votes  to  three  against,  the  majority  of  members 
not  voting  at  all.  In  that  case  the  variety  was  exhibited  by  a  member 
of  the  Floral  Committee.  I  would  like  to  ask  whether  in  the  instance 
quoted  by  Mr.  Ironside  the  exhibitor  was  a  member  of  the  F.C,  It  seems 
curious  when  a  large  proportion  of  members  cannot  decide  as  to  whether 
a  variety  is  incurved  or  Japanese  that  these  undecided  opinions  can  out¬ 
balance  those  of  the  few  really  practical  members  who  know  what  a 
bloom  is  when  they  see  it.  Most  of  the  members  live  in  or  near  London, 
and  some  are  “  great  ”  writers,  but  I  should  prefer  growers,  whether 
they  were  residents  of  London  or  otherwise. — Z. 
Mr.  Briscoe  Ironside’s  grievances  with  the  N.C.S.  may  occasionally 
result  in  some  good,  but  it  is  difficult  to  see  what  useful  purpose  he  is 
serving  by  quibbling  about  a  silver  medal  which  was  not  awarded  him, 
and  which  he  himself  admits  he  did  not  deserve  (page  632).  As  a 
member  of  the  Committee,  I  was  present  on  the  occasion  referred  to,  and 
was  quite  surprised  to  hear  a  proposal  that  the  Society’s  small  silver 
medal  should  be  awarded  to  such  an  exhibit  of  cut  blooms.  As  it  wa& 
the  medal  would  have  been  awarded  had  not  a  recount  of  the  votes  been 
demanded,  when  a  majority  of  one  was  found  against  the  proposal.* 
If  awards  of  the  kind  are  made  to  such  exhibits  as  the  one  in  ques¬ 
tion,  medals  will  soon  become  so  common  that  the  special  honout  and 
recognition  of  merit  which  should  be  conveyed  by  them  will  be  lost 
altogether.  According  to  the  rules,  the  Floral  Committee  should  be 
composed  of  experts  only,  and  if  such  a  low  standard  of  excellence  be 
set  up,  I,  for  one,  shall  begin  to  doubt  the  honour  of  being  associated 
with  that  body. 
Apart  from  the  above  question  we  do  not  want  to  expose  ourselves  to* 
the  charge  of  “  patting  each  other  on  the  back,”  and  medals  or  certifi¬ 
cates  should  only  be  awarded  to  exhibits  or  varieties  of  very  decided 
excellence.  Some  system  of  numbering  the  exhibits,  too,  might  be 
easily  arranged,  so  that  members  in  Committee  could  not  know  whose 
exhibit  was  under  consideration.  By  the  present  method  it  is  too  easy 
to  overhear  the  call,  “  Mr.  So-and-So’s  exhibit  next.” 
The  “eccentricity”  (?)  of  the  regulation  which  does  not  please  Mr. 
Ironside  was  not  “  shown,”  as  suggested  by  him  (page  532),  in  the 
Committee  being  unable  to  say  if  a  certain  variety  was  an  incurved  or 
not ;  the  members  rather  proved  their  discretion  by  asking  to  see  the 
variety  again  in  better  form,  especially  as  the  variety  is  a  sport  from  a 
two-year-old  Japanese.  Too  much  care  cannot  be  exercised  in  the 
classification  of  novelties,  and  I  am  glad  that  the  F.C.C.  was  not  tacked 
on  to  this  variety  as  an  incurved,  or  it  may  have  been  offered  by  the 
trade  at  a  high  price  next  season,  and  buyers  and  vendors  alike  be 
perhaps  disappointed  with  the  results,  then  the  blame  would  go  home 
freely  enough  to  the  Floral  Committee. — Chrysanth. 
Select  New  Chrysanthemums. 
Since  the  last  issue  of  the  Journal  of  Horticulture  I  have  found 
four  other  Japanese  varieties  well  worthy  of  inclusion  in  this  list. 
M.  G.  Montegny. — This  is  somewhat  peculiar  in  colour.  The  broad 
florets  are  a  white  ground,  striped  and  splashed  with  purple. 
Mrs.  Bevan, — Belonging  to  the  incurved  section.  This  is  a  bold- 
looking  flower,  pearly  white  in  colour. 
Le  Ehone. — Pale  self,  yellow  in  colour.  The  florets  incurve  during 
expansion,  afterwards  becoming  quite  flat. 
Graphic. — This  grows  to  a  very  large  size.  The  florets  incurve  and 
are  slightly  twisted,  inside  of  petals  rosy  mauve,  outer  surface  silvery 
shade. 
Eeflexed  Varieties. — It  cannot  be  said  that  this  section  increases 
in  popularity,  neither  do  the  blooms  exhibited  nowadays  display  high 
culture.  New  varieties  are  but  few,  the  best  being  : — 
Dorothy  Gibson.— This  is  pure  yellow  in  colour,  a  full,  massive, 
well-built  bloom  of  the  true  reflexed  type. 
Pyramid. —  One  of  Mr.  Cannell’s  seedlings  from  Cloth  of  Gold, 
similar  to  its  parent  in  all  respscts  except  colour,  and  that  is  a  deeper 
yellow. 
Anemone-flowered  Varieties. — Although  much  appreciated  by 
some  growers  Anemone-flowered  varieties  are  not  general  favourites, 
being  too  stiff  to  be  of  much  decorative  value.  Several  new  kinds  have 
been  added  this  year,  the  best  of  them  being  the  following  : — 
JuNON. — This  belongs  to  the  Japanese  Anemone  type  ;  is  silvery 
pink  in  colour,  the  cushion  or  disc  being  extra  large  and  full.  The 
latter  is  the  salient  point  in  all  Anemone  flowers. 
Descartes. — Perhaps  the  finest  variety  in  the  whole  section  of  large 
flowered  Anemones.  The  colour,  bright  crimson  red,  is  so  striking.  The 
blooms  are  especially  full  in  the  centre,  accompanied  with  extra  good 
guard  florets. 
New  Decorative  Varieties. — Pleasing  as  are  the  large  flowering 
kinds  when  grown  to  perfection  many  persons  prefer  those  known  as 
decorative  varieties.  Any  new  and  improved  variety  is  sure  to  meet 
with  approval. 
Yellow  Source  d’Or. — As  its  name  would  imply  this  is  a  yellow 
flowered  sport  from  the  well-known  and  much  appreciated  bronze 
Source  d’Or.  The  newcomer  possesses  all  the  characteristic  points  of 
freedom  in  flowering  of  its  parent  and  therefore  cannot  fail  to  become 
popular. 
Meduse.  —  This  is  terra-cotta  and  old  gold  in  colour,  very  free 
flowering,  and  a  good  kind  for  decoration  in  any  form. 
Mrs.  Conway. — Though  not  quite  new  this  is  yet  so  little  known 
that  a  note  here  will  not  be  out  of  place.  The  flower  has  the  general 
formation  of  Mdlle.  Lacroix,  but  the  florets  are  a  trifle  wider.  The 
colour  is  most  pleasing,  the  centre  being  a  delicate  shade  of  yellow, 
gradually  fading  to  straw  at  the  tips. 
Mrs.  W,  Filkins.  —  Bright  golden  yellow  ;  the  long  thread-like 
petals  are  split  at  the  end,  giving  it  a  novel  appearance.  For  freedom 
in  flowering  this  is  a  capital  variety. 
Clinton  Chalfant. — This  is  one  of  the  best  of  the  decorative 
section  of  Japanese.  The  colour  (rich  yellow)  is  just  what  is  desired. 
Pallanza. — This  must  be  included  in  this  section,  for  as  a  market 
*  As  we  are  preparing  for  press  Mr.  Briscoe  Ironside  informs  ns  that  he  has 
received  a  silver  medal.  He  also  sends  the  secretary’s  note  conveying  it,  which  say& 
it  is  “  nnf  a  brass  farthing.’’— ED. 
