37G 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER . 
November  17,  1898. 
Structure  of  Seeds  of  Indigo  Plant. — Prof.  Church  alluded  to  a  curious 
discovery  he  had  made  in  investigating  the  seeds  of  some  wild  species  of 
Indigofera,  as  linifolia,  cordifolia,  and  others.  He  found  that  sections  of 
the  embryos  showed  a  marbled  surface,  having  brownish  patches,  due  to 
the  colouring  matter  erythrophyll.  On  boiling  crushed  seeds  to  test  for 
starch  none  was  found,  33  per  cent  being  albuminoid  matters  ;  hence 
these  are  the  most  nitrogenous  of  all  leguminous  seeds  known.  On  the 
solution  being  left  the  true  indigo  blue  separates  and  becomes  insoluble. 
Thus  there  are  two  quite  independent  colouring  matters  in  the  same  seed. 
The  solution  being  red,  the  blue  formed  a  ring  round  the  porcelain  vessel 
containing  it. 
R.  HOOPER  PEARSON. 
The  number  of  Japanese  Chrysanthemums  is  nothing  short  of 
immense,  and  a  goodly  proportion  of  them  are  of  various  shades  of 
yellow.  Notwithstanding  this,  when  a  new  variety  is  introduced  it  is 
immediately  subjected  to  the  ordeal  of  severe  criticism,  and  if  it 
withstand  the  test  leaps  at  once  into  popularity.  Amongst  the  best 
of  this  season’s  novelties  we  must  place  R.  Hooper  Pearson,  of  which  a 
photographic  reproduction  is  given  on  page  381.  It  is  a  yellow  Japanese 
of  superb  form,  and  is  in  colour  much  deeper  and  richer  than  the 
popular  Modesto.  The  florets  are  broad  and  recurve  at  the  tips,  after 
the  style  of  Mutual  Friend,  with  which,  save  for  colour,  it  is  almost 
identical.  It  is  a  seedling  raised  by  Mr.  H.  J.  Jones,  Ryecroft 
Nursery,  Lewisham,  who  anticipates  that  it  will  occupy  a  similar 
place  amongst  Japanese  that  C.  H.  Curtis  does  in  the  incurved  section. 
A  first-class  certificate  has  been  accorded  to  it  by  the  National  Chrys¬ 
anthemum  Society. 
NATIONAL  CHRYSANTHEMUM  SOCIETY. 
The  Floral  Committee  held  a  meeting  at  the  Royal  Aquarium, 
Westminster,  on  Monday  last,  Mr.  T.  Bevan  occupying  the  chair,  and 
being  supported  by  a  full  attendance  of  members.  Visitors  were  also 
numerous,  and  the  extent  and  quality  of  the  exhibits  were  really 
exceptionally  fine.  The  principal  displays  came  from  Messrs.  Canned 
and  Sons,  W.  Wells,  H.  J.  Jones,  R.  Owen,  W.  Seward,  and  one  or 
two  more.  The  Committee  made  the  following  awards  of  first-class 
certificates — viz., 
C.  S.  Bates. — A  very  full  double  flower  of  the  incurved  section, 
large  in  size  and  regular  in  form.  Colour  pure  golden  ochre  yellow. 
From  Mr.  R.  Owen. 
Le  Chalonais. — A  very  nice  form  of  Japanese  Anemone;  it  has  a 
fine  disc  and  flat,  neatly  arranged  guard  florets.  The  colour  is  golden 
yellow,  shaded  cinnamon.  Exhibited  by  Mr.  H.  J.  Jones. 
John  Pockett. — A  noble  Japanese  incurved  of  remarkable  size,  with 
big,  broad,  incurving  florets  lined  with  reddish  crimson,  and  the 
reverse  deep  golden  bronze.  This  came  from  Mr.  W.  Wells. 
Madame  Gabrielle  Debrie. — Another  very  large  Japanese  incurved, 
with  broad  substantial  grooved  florets ;  very  deep  and  globular  in 
build  ;  colour  pale  pink.  From  Messrs.  H.  Cannell  &  Sons. 
Mrs.  W.  Howe. — A  big,  deeply  built  incurved  of  the  old  type, 
with  stiff,  grooved,  regularly  arranged  florets.  Colour  a  pure  deep 
golden  ochre-yellow  or  chrome.  Shown  by  Mr.  W.  Ilowe. 
H.  J.  Jones. — This  is  probably  one  of  the  most  brilliant  Japanese 
ever  raised.  It  has  long,  loose  florets  of  medium  width.  The  colour 
is  without  equal,  being  of  a  dazzling  velvety  crimson  reverse  and 
centre  bright  gold.  From  Mr.  W.  Seward. 
HanweJl  Glory. — Incurved  ;  a  big,  solid,  massive-looking  flower  of 
the  most  regularly  perfect  build.  It  has  a  multitude  of  nariow 
grooved  florets,  forming  a  very  deep,  compact  flower  of  great  merit. 
Colour  a  deep  rich  shade  of  golden  bronze.  Another  of  Mr.  Seward’s. 
Madeleine  Davis. — A  very  fine  form  of  true  Japanese  with  long, 
twisted,  intermingling  florets  most  effectively  arranged.  The  blooms 
are  very  large.  Colour  pale  lilac  mauve,  rather  pinkish  towards  the 
centre.  From  Mr.  W.  H.  Lees. 
Miss  Annie  Hills. — One  of  the  big,  broad -Retailed,  incurved 
varieties,  very  deep  in  build  and  large  in  size  ;  a  close,  compact, 
massive  flower.  Colour  white,  slightly  tiuted  flesh  or  blush.  Staged 
by  Mr.  H.  Weeks. 
Ytry  noteworthy  also  were  Mrs.  Grogan,  a  charming  bright  pink 
Japanese,  of  which  the  Committee  wished  to  see  a  plant,  it  being 
shown  as  a  decorative  variety ;  Ialene,  a  noble  pink  incurved;  Pearl 
Palace,  pale  flesh-coloured  incurved,  which  was  also  asked  for  again. 
Mrs.  W.  C.  Egan  is  another  fine  incurved,  bright  rosy  pink.  Owen’s 
Memorial,  a  rich  crimson  and  bronze,  and  Mr.  T.  Carrington,  purple, 
were  also  asked  to  be  submitted  again.  The  Committee  awarded  a 
commendation  to  Mrs.  Alfred  Kimber,  a  fine  yellow  sport  from  Mrs, 
Dr.  Ward.  Mr.  Witty  of  Nunhead  sent  some  very  curious  and 
fantastic  novelties,  which  wrere  quite  out  of  the  ordinary. 
CHRYSANTHEMUM  CURIOSITIES. 
At  the  last  Floral  meeting  of  the  N.C.S.  Mr.  Witty  exhibited 
several  Chrysanthemums  from  Japan  that  certainly  well  deserved  the 
name  of  curiosities.  They  were  quite  original  in  form,  and  reminded 
me  very  much  of  some  of  the  strange  things  in  the  Chrysanthemum 
that  seem  to  delight  the  Japanese  florist.  In  fact,  although  they  were 
flowers,  they  were  as  much  unlike  flowers  as  it  was  possible  for  them 
to  be.  One  he  called,  What  Oh.  This  consisted  of  a  ragged  bundle 
of  dishevelled  tubular  florets,  very  curly  at  the  tips,  hanging  loosely 
and  limply  down  as  if  the  biooms  had  been  struck  by  lightning,  the 
ODly  variety  I  know  of  at  all  similar  being  Medusa,  an  importation 
into  America  from  Japan,  but  not  perhaps  known  here.  The  colour 
of  What  Oh  is  a  kind  of  pale  straw  yellow,  and  the  tips  of  the  florets 
look  too  heavy  for  the  flower,  being  bigger  and  curiously  crooked. 
Another  variety  Mr.  Witty  calls  Golden  Shower.  There  is  also  a  sort 
of  struck-by-lightning  look  about  this  one,  but  the  florets  are  as  fine, 
and  similar  in  appearance,  to  a  tangled  bunch  of  silken  thread,  and  the 
colour  gold  and  bronze. 
These  are  certainly  great  novelties,  but  of  course  of  no  value  for 
the  show  board ;  a  few  plants  of  such  varieties  in  a  group  in  the 
conservatory  or  in  the  London  parks  would  evoke  many  exclamations 
of  surprise  from  those  who  think  that  this  wonderful  Eastern  flower 
has  any  -limits  to  its  capacity  for  form. — P. 
JAPANESE  AND  INCURVED. 
I  fix D  from  an  extract  from  Mr.  W.  J.  Godfrey’s  catalogue  of  two- 
years  since,  which  that  gentleman  has  sent  me  from  Exmouth,  that 
he  then  strongly  criticised  the  arbitrary  division  of  Japs  and  incurved, 
I  recently  referred  to.  Thus  there  is  nothing  new  under  the  sun,  not 
even  folly,  for  it  is  folly  and  that  alone,  to  keep  up  lines  of  demarca¬ 
tion  that  no  one  can  defend.  When  the  Japanese  were  originally 
introduced,  the  incurveds  and  the  reflexed  were  divisions  so  clearly 
defined  that  no  one  could  stumble  over  them.  Now  the  reflexed 
as  a  section  have  practically  disappeared,  and  the  incurveds  are 
so  far  merged  into  the  Japanese  that  they  are  gradually  being 
swallowed  up.  Not  only  are  growers  tired  of  them  because  in  the  old 
or  smaller  flowered  varieties  they  get  so  poor  a  return  for  the  time  and 
trouble  expended  upon  them,  and  of  the  larger  ones  so  Japanese  in 
character,  they  are  bewildered  to  understand  where  the  incurved  ends 
and  the  Japenese  begins. 
Would  it  not  be  much  more  sensible  now,  in  face  of  these  changes, 
to  divide  all  large  flowers  into  two  classes  or  sections — incurved  and 
not  incurved  ?  Never  mind  about  lists  or  divisions  of  sorts  to  name. 
Any  grower,  even  if  ever  so  obtuse,  can  tell  which  of  his  blooms  have 
incurved  petals  and  which  have  not.  The  awards  to  be  made  to  the 
incurved,  excellence  of  the  variety  as  shown,  and  not  by  certain  require¬ 
ments  of  incurved  form,  now  obsolete.  The  non-incurved  flowers 
would  also  be  judged  by  their  relative  excellence  as  to  ordinary 
character,  and  any  having  incurved  form  would  not  be  disqualified, 
but  would  lose  points  in  a  competition. — D. 
TOO-MUCH-ALIKE  FLOWERS. 
The  receut  disqualification  of  a  very  fine  stand  of  thirty-six 
incurved  Chrysanthemum  blooms  at  the  Royal  Aquarium  was  all  the 
more  remarkable  because  the  exhibitor,  one  of  our  finest  growers,  was 
a  member  of  the  N.C.S.  Classification  Committee,  and  therefore  some¬ 
what  responsible  for  a  classification  which  certainly,  in  the  case  in 
question,  seemed  absurd,  the  flowers  being  Princess  of  Wales  (pink, 
and  having  long  pointed  petals),  and  Mrs.  Heale  (pure  white,  the 
petals  being  rather  shorter  and  more  rounded).  To  class  such  blooms 
as  too  much  alike  savours  of  absurdity.  A  day  later  I  found  in  another 
show  a  first-rate  grower  had  in  his  stand  of  incurved  C.  H.  Curtis  and 
Major  Bonnaffon.  I  remarked  to  him  that  N.C.S.  rules  evidently  were 
not  respected  there  ;  and  he  said  they  were,  so  far  as  these  flowers 
were  c  mcerned,  absurd,  as  the  plants  as  well  as  flowers  were  quite 
distinct.  If  this  be  so,  in  how  many  more  cases  may  not  there  be 
distinctness  ? 
But  then  the  matter  is  a  serious  one  for  the  Chrysanthemum  trade, 
as  it  is  too  evident  that  all  these  so-classed  as  too- much-alike  varieties 
have  got  into  commerce  through  that  body ;  and  if  alike,  on  what 
principle  of  honour  or  intregrity  have  they  been  sold  as  distinct  ?  The 
recently  disqualified  exhibitor,  whose  blooms  throughout  were  so  fine 
that  they  would  have  won  him  the  first  prize  in  the  class,  stated  that 
he  had  been  misled  by,  I  presume,  misreading  certain  conditions  or 
rules  on  page  17  of  the  schedule,  as,  for  instance,  that  passage  where 
it  runs  “  Therefore  in  the  cases  of  varieties  that  at  certain  stages  of 
development  closely  resemble  each  other,  the  blooms  exhibited  must 
