438 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
December  8,  1898. 
NELLIE  POCKETT. 
In  the  Journal  of  Horticulture  for  November  24th  we  gave  an 
illustration  of  John  Pockett  as  one  of  the  finest  of  the  Australian 
varieties,  and  we  now  give  Nellie  Pockett  (fig.  75)  which  is  quite 
equal  to  its  predecessor,  though  in  different  style.  The  flower  trom 
which  our  pdiotograph  was  taken  was  kindly  sent  by  Mr.  W.  Wells  of 
E.irlswood,  who  at  the  same  time  wrote — “  I  send  vou  two  of  the  best 
blooms  I  have  left,  the  better  of  these  was  from  a  6-inch  pot.  I  think 
Nellie  Pockett,  for  every  purpose,  is  unequalled,  its  only  fault  being 
that  it  must  not  be  secured  on  a  first  crown  bud.  It  does  not  exceed 
5  feet  in  height,  and  holds  its  foliage  till  the  very  last.  The  colour  is 
pure  white,  and  each  plant  carries  three  good  blooms.  It  is  a  good  variety 
for  6-inch  pots,  keeps  better  than  any  white  I  know,  and  is  one  of  the 
best  for  bush  plants.  It  took  first-class  certificates  at  the  three  principal 
shows  in  Australia  last  April,  and  has  secured  the  award  of  merit  of 
the  R.H.S.,  as  well  as  the  first-class  certi6cate  of  the  N.C.S.,  with 
honours  from  about  a  score  of  provincial  societies.” 
N.C.S.  ANNUAL  DINNER. 
It  is  doubtful  if  this  Society  can  point  to  a  more  successful  and 
enjoyable  entertainment  than  its  annual  dinner,  which  was  held  on 
Wednesday  the  30th  ult.  at  the  Holborn  Restaurant,  when  Sir 
Albert  Iv.  Rollit,  LL.D.,  D.C.L.,  M.P.,  occupied  the  chair,  and  with  a 
rare  sense  of  tact  and  good  humour,  proved  himself  to  be  an  ideal 
chairman  in  every  respect  for  such  a  festive  gathering.  On  this 
occasion  there  was  a  large  gathering  of  friends  and  members  present, 
m>t  the  least  interesting  feature  being  that  ladies  were  for  the  first 
time  invited  to  attend,  and  the  innovation  was  very  largely 
availed  of  by  the  fair  sex. 
The  dinner  being  over,  Sir  Albert  rose  to  propose  the  toast  of 
“The  Queen,”  and  remarked  that  flowers  had  often  been  made  the 
emblems  of  royalty — the  Chrysanthemum  in  particular  was  the 
emblem  of  a  friendly  and  allied  nation  that  had  in  late  years  come 
into  the  ranks  of  civilisation,  an  observation  that  gave  rise  to  a  burst 
of  applause,  and  the  toast  was  drunk  to  the  accompaniment  of  the 
national  anthem. 
“Donors  of  Special  Prizes”  was  then  offered  in  appreciative 
terms  by  Mr.  P.  Waterer,  who  referred  to  the  excellent  prizes  offered 
bv  Messrs.  H.  J.  Jones,  Sutton  &  Sims,  Deverill,  Sydenham,  the 
Royal  Aquarium  Co.,  and  oiliers,  and  the  competition  and  interest 
these  prizes  evoked.  He  also  referred  to  the  rust  difficulty,  and 
said  he  would  be  prepared  to  offer  a  prize  of  £5  5s.  himself  for  a  good 
essay  on  the  subject.  There  was  also  room  for  improvement  in  the 
present  method  of  staging  cut  blooms,  and  he  would  like  to  see  the 
S  >ciety  institute  a  class  for  sixty  cut  blooms  in  twelve  vases,  five 
blooms  in  each,  an  expression  which  soon  afterwards  found  a  ready 
response  in  Mr.  H.  J.  Jones,  who  said  he  would  be  pleased,  subject  to 
the  approval  of  the  Committee,  to  offer  the  sum  of  £25  for  such  a 
class.  One  of  the  names  coupled  with  the  toast  was  that  of  Mr. 
J.  W.  Wilkinson,  Secretary  of  the  Royal  Aquarium  Co  ,  who  said  it  was 
always  a  pleasure  to  be  present  at  their  dinner,  for  on  each  occasion  it 
was  only  to  record  renewed  success.  It  would  interest  them  to  know 
that  the  class  in  which  his  company  had  offered  special  prizes 
necessitated  about  1000  superficial  feet  of  tabling,  and  other  special 
prizes  had  also  caused  very  keen  competition.  Mr.  H.  J.  Jones  also 
replied. 
The  presentation  by  the  Chairman  of  the  national  challenge 
trophy  to  the  representative  of  the  Portsmouth  Society  then  took 
place,  the  Chairman  remarking  that  we  all  looked  to  Portsmouth 
in  certain  events  as  a  shield  with  our  navy,  and  he  was  pleased  to 
see  Portsmouth  had  so  much  fight  in  it.  Mr.  Berry  replied  that 
they  were  in  a  fighting  mood  at  Portsmouth,  and  hoped  to  come  to 
London  again,  allusions  which  were  very  warmly  received.  Next 
followed  the  presentation  of  the  Holmes’  Memorial  cup3  to  the 
■winners,  Mr.  Higgs  and  Mr.  Lees,  the  latter  of  whom  would  have 
taken  both  but  for  an  unfortunate  oversight  in  setting  up  his  stand 
of  incurveds.  Various  medals  won  at  the  November  show  were 
also  distributed  by  the  Chairman,  affording  him  many  opportunities 
of  displaying  his  abilities  as  a  speaker,  the  whole  proceedings  being 
enlivened  with  humorous  and  encouraging  remarks,  which  were 
warmly  appreciated  by  his  audience. 
This  being  completed,  Sir  Albei  t  rose  to  propose  the  toast  of  the 
evening.  He  reminded  the  company  that  as  far  back  as  1884,  when 
Mayor  of  Hull,  he  opened  the  first  Chrysanthemum  show  there,  which 
wes  now  celebrated  throughout  the  kingdom.  He  was  pleased  to  find 
on  this  occasion  that  Hull  was  represented  by  Messrs.  Simpson,  Witty, 
and  Harland.  He  considered  the  culture  of  flowers  a  great  means  of 
education,  for  it  was  astounding  how  the  smallest  piece  of  land  mUht 
help  in  the  decoration  of  the  home  and  give  refinement  to  the 
cinracter.  Referring,  after  other  remarks,  to  the  Chrysanthemum,  he 
said  it  was  a  plant  worthy  of  all  the  trouble  and  toil  bestowed  upon  it. 
In  China  it  had  been  stationary  to  a  large  extent,  but  wdien  it  had 
once  been  introduced  to  a  civilised  country,  its  improvement  was  really 
wonderful.  Coming  as  it  did  in  autumn,  when  flowers  are  scarce, 
made  it  most  valuable,  and  the  cult  of  the  Chrysanthemum  was 
fully  justified.  Like  many  other  things  the  Society  had  originated 
in  the  north  of  London,  a  portion  of  which  he  had  the  honour  of 
representing  in  Parliament,  it  now  counted  upwards  of  800  members 
and  many  affiliated  societies,  and  was  doing  good  work,  and  must  be 
regarded  as  an  excellent  national  institution.  He  would  therefore 
propose  the  toast  of  the  “  National  Chrysanthemum  Society,”  adding, 
may  it  flourish  root  and  branch  for  ever,  and  he  hoped  it  wouhl  be 
both  annual  and  perennial  so  far  as  its  prosperity  was  concerned. 
Mr.  E.  Harland  proposed,  “  The  President,  Vice-Presidents,  officers, 
Auditois,  and  Committees,”  which  was  responded  to  by  Mr.  Harman 
Payne  and  Mr.  A.  E.  Stubbs,  the  former  briefly  referring  to  the  work 
of  the  foreign  department,  while  the  latter  laid  stress  upon  the  reserve 
fund. 
The  Chairman  was  perhaps  in  his  happiest  vein  when  proposing  the 
toast  of  “  The  Ladies.”  He  said  the  custom  of  exclusion  of  the  ladies 
was  a  relic  of  the  ages  of  barbarism,  which  robbed  festivities  like  this 
of  all  their  charm  and  gladness,  and  he  was  pleased  to  have  occupied 
the  chair  on  this  the  first  occasion  of  their  presence.  Mr.  Leonard 
Brown  replied. 
Other  toasts  included  “The  Chairman,”  proposed  by  Mr.  T.  W. 
Sanders,  who  referred  to  the  public  duties  that  devolved  on  Sir  Alber’, 
and  expressed  the  hope  that  they  should  see  him  on  future  occasions. 
“  The  Press,”  proposed  by  Mr.  Fife,  and  replied  to  by  Mr.  Geo.  Gordon, 
who  reminded  them  that  some  of  the  popularity  of  the  Society 
depended  upon  pressmen,  who,  apart  from  reporting  the  work  of  the 
Society,  assisted  it  in  a  more  active  manner  by  filling  various  offices  of 
importance. 
The  tables  were,  as  usually,  well  decorated  with  cut  blooms  of 
Chrysanthemums,  some  of  which  were  effectively  set  up  in  huge 
Japanese  vases  kindly  lent  by  Mr.  H.  J.  Jones.  During  the  evening 
songs  and  pianoforte  selections  were  performed  under  the  direction  of 
Mr.  A.  Taylor,  and  the  gathering  broke  up  about  11  P.M.  after 
singing  “  Auld  Lang  Syne.” 
PROPAGATING  CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 
The  propagation  of  Chrysanthemums  is  a  most  interesting  phase 
of  their  management.  The  time  has  arrived  for  a  commencement 
to  be  nude  in  inserting  suitable  cuttings.  Too  much  care  cannot 
be  exercised  in  selecting  the  fittest  for  the.  purpose,  as  upon  their 
character  depends  the  ready  rooting  and  free  character  of  the  sub¬ 
sequent  growth.  There  is  always  a  marked  distinction  in  the  vigour 
and  stamina  of  plants  grown  from  superior  and  those  raised  from 
indifferent  cuttings. 
Efforts  to  encourage  the  growth  of  hardv  and  short-jointed  cuttings 
should  begin  in  earnest  immediately  the  flowering  plants  have  been 
cut  down.  Something  may  have  been  done  previously  to  this  end, 
such  as  clearing  away  any  useless  growths  which  crowd  the  cuttings. 
Some  adopt  special  methods  of  insuring  a  supply  of  cuttings,  but  the 
majority  of  cultivators  depend  on  the  old  plants  for  affording  new 
stock  of  the  varieties  they  already  p  >ssess.  Dependance  must  be 
placed  on  the  trade  growers  to  supply  fresh  or  new  varieties.  Most  of 
them  who  know  the  importance  of  the  matter  are  better  able  to  supply 
first-class  cuttiugs  than  numbers  of  cultivators  who  may  have  not  the 
requisite  convenience  to  store  plants  for  producing  them. 
The  Chrysanthemum  specialists  endeavour  to  give  as  much 
attention  to  the  production  of  good  cuttings  as  they  do  to  the 
exhibition  of  high-class  blooms.  Whenever,  therefore,  cuttings  of 
any  particular  variety  are  scarce,  inferior,  or  not  procurable  at  home, 
it  is  better  to  state  requirements  to  reliable  specialists  able  to  meet 
any  reasonable  demand.  The  careless  exchange  of  cuttings  between 
cultivators  is  to  be  condemned,  and  none  ought  to  be  supplied  which 
are  not  calculated  to  succeed  well. 
If  the  fresh  stock  of  plants  required  must  be  propagated  from 
present  or  recent  flowering  plants,  the  pots  containing  the  old  stools 
should  be  placed  where  they  can  receive  the  most  light  as  soon  as 
practicable  after  the  stems  are  removed.  The  best  place  for  them  at 
this  stage  is  a  cool  frame  or  pit  which  can  be  easily  ventilated,  and  the 
plants  occupy  a  position  not  far  from  the  glass.  A  shelf  also  in  a  cool 
structure  would  suit  the  plants  admirably.  The  soil  in  the  pots  must 
be  kept  moist,  but  not  wet,  and  no  more  heat  should  be  afforded  than 
will  protect  from  frost.  Rub  off  all  cuttings  which  may  be  springing 
from  the  hard  stem,  and  pull  out  long  weakly  stems  issuing  from  the 
base.  The  most  promising  sucker  growths  will  then  have  a  better 
chance  of  growing  and  strengthening  in  a  satisfactory  manner. 
