December  22,  1898. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
475 
Twelve  Incurved. — Mrs.  G.  llumlle,  white ;  Mrs.  Dixon,  bright 
yel'ow  ;  George  Glenny,  primrose  ;  Lord  Wolse'.ey,  bronzy  red  ;  Prince 
Alfred,  rosy  carmine  shaded  purple;  Venus,  lilac  suffused  pink;  Nil 
Desperandum,  dark  orange  red;  John  Salter,  cinnamon  red;  Jardin 
des  Plantes,  deep  golden  yellow  ;  Baron  Hirsclr,  orange  cinnamon  ; 
Barbara,  orange  amber  ;  and  C.  H.  Curtis,  deep  yellow. 
For  Standards.  —  Mrs.  G.  Bundle,  Miss  Dixon,  G.  Glenny, 
Roseum  superbum,  Mdlle.  M.  Ricoud,  and  Peter  the  Great. — 
E.  Molyneux. 
NATIONAL  CHRYSANTHEMUM  SOCIETY. 
A  meeting  of  the  Executive  Committee  was  held  on  Monday,  Mr. 
P.  Waterer  in  the  chair.  Most  of  the  business  was  of  a  purely  formal 
nature.  Some  discussion  arose  on  the  question  of  the  publication 
of  a  new  Catalogue.  In  the  meantime  the  report  of  the  Classification 
•Committee  will  appear,  as  was  the  case  last  year,  in  the  new 
schedule. 
SHEFFIELD  CHRYSANTHEMUM  SOCIETY. 
The  last  meeting  of  Ihe  session  was  held  on  Wednesday  evening, 
•the  14th  inst.,  and  the  first  general  meeting  of  the  members  in  the 
"Society’s  new  rooms  at  the  Westminster  Hotel,  High  Street.  The 
attendance  was  very  good,  and  taxed  the  sitting  capacity  of  the 
meeting  room.  The  members’  exhibits  were  as  usual  for  the  December 
meetings.  Of  Chrysanthemums  some  excellent  blooms  were  staged. 
The  prizewinners  were,  for  the  professional  class,  Mr.  C.  Scott  first  and 
Mr.  William  Collier  second  ;  for  the  amateurs’  class,  Dr.  Barham  first 
and  Mr.  W.  Wellgoose  second.  Prizes  were  also  won  by  cottagers. 
The  entertainment  for  the  evening,  after  the  official  business  had 
been  transacted,  was  a  lantern  exhibition,  kindly  given  by  Messrs. 
Nicholson  &  Carr,  who,  in  a  series  of  admirable  pictures,  took  the 
audience  a  trip  from  London  to  Greece.  In  addition  to  the  above 
ii’ify  displayed  a  number  of  pictures  of  statuary  and  groups  of  cut 
flowers.  The  hitter  were  remarkably  well  arranged  and  displayed,  and 
were  greatly  appreciated.  Several  excellent  groups  of  Narcissi  blooms 
cime  in  for  spec  al  approbation.  Special  photographs  of  the  officials 
at  ihe  late  show  in  November  were  presented  to  Mesdames  M.  Donald¬ 
son  and  C.  Johnson  as  a  slight  acknowledgment  of  the  services  these 
ladies  rendered  to  the  Society  by  taking  charge  of  the  flower  show 
held  during  the  exhibition,  for  the  benefit  of  the  benevolent  fund  in 
connection  with  the  Society.  The  second  portion  of  the  evening’s 
-entertainment  was  musical,  when  Messrs.  W.  Housley,  W.  Dale  Butler, 
J.  Else,  and  others,  rendered  the  vocal  portion.  A  vote  of  thanks 
■to  Messrs.  Nicholson  and  Carr  for  their  excellent  entertainment,  the 
gentlemen  who  represented  the  songsters,  and  to  the  Chairman, 
Mr.  John  Haigh,  concluded  one  of  the  popular  and  most  pleasant 
■evenings  held  byT  the  Society  during  the  year. — J.  H.  S. 
CHRYSANTHEMUMS  IN  ITALY, 
Mr.  H.  Briscoe-Ironside,  the  well-known  English  amateur,  who 
has  been  resident  in  Italy  for  some  time,  sends  a  few  notes  concerning 
the  recent  shows  in  that  country,  and  says  that  very  great  progress 
and  enthusiasm  have  been  displayed  at  the  shows,  of  which  there  have 
been  three.  One  has  been  held  at  Turin,  another  at  Pallanza,  and  the 
third  wras  that  of  ihe  Italian  N.C.S.,  which  was  held  at  Milan  from  the 
10th  to  the  15th  November.  It  took  place  in  the  Fine  Art  Gallery, 
and  a  more  suitable  building  for  such  a  show  it  would  be  difficult  to 
find.  The  available  floor  space  is  about  equal  to  that  of  the  Royal 
Aquarium  at  Westminster,  and  it  was  well  filled,  the  majority  of 
exhibits  being  pot  plants.  Mr.  Briscoe-Ironside  had  a  room  to  himself, 
■which  he  filled  with  an  exhibit  comprising  examples  ef  every  section 
of  the  Chrysanthemum,  and  also  with  plants.  For  this  he  was 
awarded  a  gold  medal. 
The  Floral  Committee  held  a  meeting,  but  awarded  only  two 
first-class  certificates.  These  went  to  Mons.  Ernest  Calvat  for  the 
following — Rrincesse  Bassarala  de  Branco  van,  a  large  Japanese  of  the 
<1.  B.  Hayward  type ;  and  to  Lesdiguircx,  also  a  Japanese,  of  large 
size,  pale  orange  streaked  crimson. 
There  were  eighty-four  competitors  in  the  forty  classes,  and  after 
the  proceedings  of  the  first  day  were  concluded,  a  banquet  was  held  at 
which  seventy  guests  were  present,  including  a  delegate  from  the 
•newly  formed  Swiss  N.C.S. 
At  the  Turin  exhibition  the  King  and  Queen  of  Italy  were 
present,  and  the  show  was  a  great  success.  Pot  plants  predomi¬ 
nated,  most  of  them,  out  of  several  thousands,  being  only  2  feet 
high.  The  principal  prizewinners  were  Mr.  Scalarandis,  gardener  to 
the  King;  Messrs.  Radaelli,  M.  Brocclii,  and  Mr.  Briscoe-Ironside. 
The  show  at  Pallanza  came  between  the  two  preceding,  and  was  on 
a  somewhat  smaller  scale.  Here  Mr.  Ironside  made  an  imposing 
display  of  a  group  12  yards  long  by  6  yards  wide.  For  this  he  was 
awarded  the  silver  medal-  and  a  grand  diploma  of  honour  presented 
try  the  Minister  of  Agriculture.  We  congratulate  our  old  friend  on 
his  successes,  and  hope  the  movement  will  still  further  extend. 
— C.  H.  P. 
Weather  in  London. — For  the  most  part  the  weather  during  the 
past  week  has  been  that  of  spring  rather  than  of  Christmas  time. 
Very  little  rain  has  fallen,  and  the  air  has  frequently  been  quite  warm 
with  bright  sunshine.  Sunday  and  Monday  were  both  light  and  dull  at 
intervals.  On  Tuesday  the  weather  was  clear  and  cold,  with  slight  frost 
at  night,  which  changed  to  rain  at  midnight.  Wednesday  was  dull  and 
close. 
-  "Weather  in  the  North. —  Up  to  Tuesday  morning,  when 
there  were  5°  of  frost,  thero  was  a  continuation  of  tho  former  unsettled 
weather.  The  loth  was  a  beautiful  day,  and  the  forenoon  of  Saturday 
fine,  but  tho  latter  part  was  very  wet.  Sunday  wa3  bright  and  cold. 
Rain  has  been  frequent,  especially  during  the  night,  throughout  the  week. 
— B.  D.,  S.  Perthshire. 
-  Death  of  Mr.  W.  Pragnell. — It  is  with  much  regret  that 
we  record  tho  recent  demise  of  Mr.  W.  Pragnell,  who  had  been  gardener 
at  Sherborne  Castle,  Dorset,  for  upwards  of  forty  years.  Ho  had  visited 
Sherborne  in  the  early  part  of  tho  day,  and  on  reaching  home  suddenly 
fell  forward  and  expi: ed.  Tho  deceased  will  be  remembered  as  a 
prominent  exhibitor  and  judge.  Mr.  Pragnell  leaves  a  widow,  four  tons, 
and  two  daughters. 
-  Retirement  of  Mr.  J,  Lazenby.  —  Wo  learn  from  the 
“Yorkshire  Herald’’  that  the  Ancient  Society  of  York  Florists  is  about 
to  lose  the  services  of  their  Secretary,  Mr.  J.  Lazenby,  who  has  held  that 
office  for  more  than  twenty  years,  and  previous  to  accepting  which  he 
had  been  a  member  for  several  years.  Tho  Society  two  decades  ago  was 
very  different  from  what  it  is  now.  Its  membership  has  shown  an 
enormous  increase',  the  Chrysanthemum  Show  has  becoma  one  of  the 
first  exhibitions  of  its  kind  in  the  kingdom,  and  the  minor  shows,  to 
which  admission  is  free,  and  of  which  four  are  held  during  the  summer, 
have  grown  to  many  times  their  size  of  a  quarter  of  a  century  ba  le,  and  are 
a  great  attraction  to  many  of  the  citizens.  Necessarily  with  the  growth 
of  the  Society  an!  its  undertakings  the  work  connected  with  it  ha3 
correspondingly  increased,  and  Mr.  Lazenby  now  feels  constrained  to 
relinquish  his  position.  The  Society  is  taking  steps  for  the  appointment 
of  a  successor,  but  meanwhile  Mr.  Lnzenby’s  retirement  has  called  forth 
a  desire  that  the  occasion  should  be  marked  by  ihe  presentation  of  a 
testimonial  from  the  members  and  friends  of  the  Society,  of  whom  there 
are  many  that  have  derived  much  pleasure  from  tho  Society’s  floral 
displays.  Mr.  B.  B.  Fannett  is  Secretary  to  the  Testimonial  Committee. 
-  Experiences  of  Judges. — Were  I  to  relate  all  I  know 
regarding  tho  work  of  adjudicating  at  horticultural  exhibitions  some 
peculiar  experiences  could  be  brought  to  light.  It  is  not  my  purpose 
merely  lo  give  evidence  of  what  is  known  to  me,  but  rather  on  behalf  ot 
some  who  willingly  give  their  services  as  judges.  It  is  fair  that  every 
society  should  pay  travelling  and  other  expenses  incurred.  Some  do  not 
consider  it  their  duly  to  attend  to  this.  I  have  now  and  again  (certainly 
not  often)  had  to  pay  my  own  expenses.  One  of  the  cases,  strong  in 
point,  was  the  engaging  of  a  well-known  gardener  to  go  some  seventy 
miles,  and  not  a  copper  was  offered  for  his  journey  or  for  refreshment. 
It  may  be  considered  by  such  societies  that  the  “honour”  was  ample 
remuneration.  I  once  walked  across  country  about  seven  miles  during  a 
hot  July  sun  to  a  show  in  a  western  county  of  England,  where  plenty  of 
work  for  three  hours  fell  to  my  lot,  and  at  tho  end  an  elderly  gentleman 
in  the  garb  of  a  Quaker  told  mo  that  the  honour  of  engaging  in  such 
work  was  a  privilege  which  covered  more  than  money  could.  I  did  not 
offer  a  word  to  raise  any  dispute  in  this  assertion.  It  certainly  was 
profitable  in  one  way,  as  I  acted  along  with  two  experts  well  known,  and 
being  then  very  young  in  years  received  some  valuable  tuition  in  judging 
among  large  collections  of  florists’  flowers.  I  had  studied  tho  points  of 
these  by  Glenny,  but  practice  in  such  work  was  really  of  much  service. 
The  few  societies  (I  should  say  very  few)  who  do  not  pay  judges  their 
railway  fares  should  remember  that  gardeners  do  not  form  a  wealthy 
section  of  the  community. — An  Old  Hand.  [Morey  lovers,  in 
Quaker  garb  or  otherwise,  are  apt  to  preach  the  “  honour  doctrine, 
but  they  are  not  themselves  famed  for  giving  much  of  their  professional 
akill  for  nothing,  and  being  out  of  pocket  in  the  dispensation  ] 
