January  9, 1896. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER . 
35 
the  two  qualities  it  would  not  do  so,  but  there  are  so  many  intermediate 
grades. 
Within  the  last  four  years  I  have  known  Grapes  which  were  not  of 
the  worst  quality,  delivered  in  this  neighbourhood,  after  a  hundred  miles 
journey,  at  4d.  per  lb.  while  others  were  being  sent  away  at  5s.  The 
effect  is  that  the  4d.  Grapes  bring  the  value  of  those  which  ought  to  be 
worth  la.  down  to  half  that  price  ;  thesb,  in  their  turn,  act  on  the  next 
grade  above  them,  and  so  on  up  the  ladder  till  the  5s.  ones  are  reached 
and  depreciated  accordingly.  Purchasers  seeing  fairly  good-looking 
fruit  marked  up  for  retail  at  2s.  per  lb.  will  hesitate  to  give  6s.,  unless 
for  very  special  occasions. 
What  then  is  to  be  done  ?  Shall  the  grower  of'the  first  quality  fruit 
give  up  his  higher  aims  and  produce  a  greater  quantity  of  inferior  stuff 
to  make  up  for  lower  prices?  Many  have  already  done  so  ;  and  lam 
of  the  opinion  that  the  general  quality  of  Grapes  in  the  market  is  not 
now  as  good  as  it  was  a  few  years  ago.  This  is  not  for  want  of  skill,  as  ii 
proved  by  the  greater  number  of  good  exhibits  at  every  show  in  the 
country,  but  it  is  because  fair  prices  are  difficult  to  obtain  for  even  first- 
rate  produce. 
I  believe,  however,  that  the  thing  will  right  itself.  The  only  chance 
the  grower  of  the  4d.  Grapes  has  is  in  an  early  clearance,  but  the  rate 
this  class  of  growers  is  multiplying  will  in  a  short  time  make  early 
clearances  difficult,  and  a  few  score  tons  of  rotten  fruit,  even  of  the 
Value  of  only  4d.  per  lb.,  in  an  establishment,  will  tend  to  damp  the 
proprietor’s  ardour. 
The  turn  for  the  grower  of  good  fruit  commences  with  the  new  year, 
and  then  for  three  months  he  has  it  very  much  in  his  own  hands.  There 
is  not  much  else  in  the  way  of  good  dessert  fruit  besides  Oranges  and 
Bananas  between  this  time  and  April,  when  forced  Grapes  make  their 
appearance  ;  but  even  these  are  not  equal  to  well-preserved  old  ones, 
and  as  people  are  then  beginning  to  want  a  change  from  Grapes,  both 
have  to  give  place  to  well-grown  Strawberries. — Wm.  Taylor. 
(To  be  continued.) 
New  Single-flowered  Chrysanthemums. 
Mr.  Agate  writes  me — “  A  mistake  has  crept  into  your  notes  re 
single-flowered  Chrysanthemums,  which  you  described  in  the  Journal 
of  December  19th,  1895,  in  which  you  state  the  following  varieties  were 
raised  by  me — J.  Arter,  Harold  Stallard,  Miss  Josephine  H.  Stallard, 
T.  Suter,  Mrs.  Yose,  George  Rose,  and  Miss  Gertrude  Parker.  They 
were  raised  by  Mr.  H.  J.  Jones,  Ryecroft  Nursery,  Lewisham,  and  sent 
to  me  on  trial.  You,  I  know,  like  to  give  credit  where  due,  therefore 
I  thought  you  would  be  glad  of  this  information.”  I  need  hardly  say 
I  am  pleased  to  render  to  Mr.  Jones  his  due,  and  congratulate  him  on 
his  success  in  raising  such  charming  varieties  of  this  popular  flower. — 
E.  Molyneux. 
Beauty  of  Teignmouth  and  Pride  of  Madford. 
My  thanks  are  due  to  Mr.  Foster  for  the  information  regarding  the 
description  (page  10)  of  these  Chrysanthemums.  I  am  all  the  more 
convinced  now  that  few  persons  have  them  distinct.  What  I  took  to  be 
Beauty  of  Teignmouth  is,  from  Mr.  Foster’s  note,  evidently  Pride  of 
Madford  in  formation,  but  not  quite  correct  in  the  description  of  the 
colour  as  defined  by  Mr.  Foster. 
Much  the  finest  blooms  I  have  seen  were  in  Mr.  Agate’s  nursery  on 
the  day  of  the  Havant  show  in  October.  This  he  had  for  Beauty  of 
Teignmouth.  The  flowers  were  three-parts  developed,  the  young  unfolded 
florets  in  the  centre  were  incurved,  but  those  fully  developed  were  quite 
flat — truly  reflexed.  The  colour  was  most  striking,  an  intense  purple 
maroon  on  the  surface,  the  reverse  of  the  undeveloped  florets  being 
white  with  deep  purple  stripes.  The  former,  I  find,  is  what  I  noted  at 
the  time,  as  I  was  careful  to  observe  all  the  details  of  this  flower.  In 
no  sense  could  it  be  termed  an  incurved  bloom.  Growing  side  by  side 
in  Mr.  Jones’  nursery  a  week  la'er  1  could  detect  no  difference  in  the 
blooms  from  plants  growing  under  the  two  names.  He,  I  believe, 
procured  both  from  Teignmouth. 
Originally  they  were  sent  from  Australia  by  Mr.  Hannaford,  so  my 
information  goes.  From  other  sources,  too,  I  hear  the  greatest  difficulty 
is  experienced  in  distinguishing  them.  Ic  seems  to  me  to  be  a  case  of 
doubt,  and,  as  is  usually  the  result  in  all  such  cases,  the  most  deserving 
— growers  will  quickly  find  which  it  is — maintains  its  position,  while 
*•  the  other  must  go  to  the  wall.” — E.  Molyneux. 
.  -  J&.  i,  .J  '  -  ■  G 
“THE  GOLDEN  FLOWER." 
This  was  the  title  of  a  paper  read  at  one  of  the  meetings  of  the 
Torquay  District  Gardeners’  Association  by  Mr.  F.  C.  Srnale,  Hon. 
Secretary  of  the  Association,  before  a  large  and  interested,  audience,  and 
we  have  pleasure  in  reprinting  it  from  the  “  Torquay  Times.” 
Mr,  Smale,  in  the  course  of  his  paper,  which  gave  evidence  of 
eonnidetable  research,  B*id  that  in  adopting  the  title  of  “  The  Golden 
Flower,”  he  had,  of  course,  simply  translated  the  Greek — Chrysos 
Anthemos  into  English,  this  being  the  derivation  of  the  name  “  Chrysan¬ 
themum.”  But,  as  they  knew,  the  Chrysanthemum  was  by  no  means 
exclusively  yellow  ;  pink,  crimson,  white,  and  all  the  intermediate  tints 
were  represented.  Those,  however,  were  the  result  of  cultivation.  The 
original  colour  was  yellow,  and  hence  the  generic  name. 
The  Chrysanthemum,  as  they  saw  it  to-day,  only  represented  one 
species — namely,  Chrysanthemum  sinensis  ;  in  infinite  variety  it  was 
true.  They  all  knew  the  annual  sorts,  which  formed  another  species,  whilst 
the  Marguerite  of  the  Paris  and  Covent  Garden  markets  could,  with  the 
modest  Ox-eye  Daisy  of  the  English  meadows,  claim  kindred  with  such 
flowers  as  those  in  the  vase  before  him.  He  proposed  firstly  to  give  a 
short  account  of  the  Chrysanthemum  in  its  Oriental  home,  and  then  to 
deal  as  briefly  as  he  could  with  its  culture  and  general  management  in 
England. 
History. 
The  Chrysanthemum,  whilst  not  boasting  of  such  a  romantic  origin 
as  some  of  the  Orchidacese,  possessed  a  history  both  ancient  and  respect¬ 
able.  Japan  was  popularly  considered  to  be  its  home,  and  in  fact  it  was 
known  as  the  Imperial  flower  of  that  country.  It  was,  moreover,  used 
in  heraldic  form  as  the  crest  and  official  seal  of  the  Mikado,  being 
probably  adopted  as  such  in  the  twelfth  century.  They  would  observe 
that  it  bore  little  resemblance  to  a  Chrysanthemum  as  they  knew  it,  but 
Japanese  art  was  not  always  realistic.  The  Mikado  did  not  by  any 
means  hold  a  monopoly  of  this  design.  The  crest  of  the  Prince  Owari 
was  founded  on  the  Chrysanthemum,  and  the  badge  of  the  Japan  Society 
in  London  bore  a  close  resemblance  to  the  Imperial  crest  itself.  It 
escaped  infringement  of  copyright,  so  to  speak,  by  adopting  twenty-four 
flutings  or  florets,  instead  of  the  Mikado’s  sixteen.  What  would  be  the 
result  in  the  event  of  that  difference  being  omitted  he  could  not  say, 
but  doubtless  the  punishment  would  fit  the  crime. 
Art. 
In  a  beautifully  illustrated  work  on  “  The  Keramic  Art  of  Japan,”  to 
which  he  had  been  allowed  access,  he  found  representations  of  Kiku — 
pronounced,  he  believed,  Kychonophane — or  Chrysanthemum  ware,  on 
which  the  Kiku-mon  or  Chrysanthemum  crest  appeared  in  various 
colours,  bright  green  and  sky-blue  included,  and  therein,  he  doubted  not, 
lay  the  origin  of  the  blue  Chrysanthemum  fable,  to  which  he  might  refer 
again.  Sixteen  fluted  basins  were  also  made,  forming  a  representation 
of  the  crest.  Since  writing  the  foregoing  he  had  read  another  and  very 
different  account  of  the  origin  of  the  imperial  badge.  Mr.  G.  C.  Haitd, 
a  member  of  the  Council  of  the  Japan  Society,  attributed  it  not  to  any 
floral  design,  but  to  ancient  sun  worship.  There  seemed  to  be  something 
in  this,  as  the  crest  of  one  ancient  Japanese  family  represented  what  was 
undeniably  a  sun  appearing  above  the  horizon.  The  fact  remained, 
however,  that  whatever  its  remote  origin  might  have  been,  the  imperial 
crest  wa9  to-day  considered  by  the  Japanese  themselves  to  be  the 
Chrysanthemum  in  heraldic  form. 
Sentiment. 
The  flower  was  known  in  Japan  as  the  “  flower  of  happiness,”  and 
the  ninth  day  of  the  ninth  month,  which  was  named  “  Kiku-dsuki,”  was 
celebrated  in  its  honour.  The  Japan  Society  was  formed  on  that  day. 
On  these  occasions  the  Japanese  plucked  the  petals  from  the  flower  and 
threw  them  into  their  “  sakd,”  or  rice  wine,  before  drinking  it,  hoping 
thereby  to  insure  protection  from  evil  during  the  ensuing  year.  According 
to  Sir  Edwin  Arnold,  the  Japanese  occasionally  named  their  daughters, 
“O  Kiku  San,”  the  Honourable  Miss  Chrysanthemum,  much  as  we 
called  our  children  Lily,  Rose,  or  Daisy.  The  flowers  were  also  used  for 
jellies.  In  Japanese  armour  they  found  another  adoption  of  the 
Chrysanthemum  as  a  floral  design.  It  was  seen  around  the  vem  i  atmg 
space  at  the  top  of  the  helmet,  and  was  known  as  the  Kiku-z%  or 
Chrysanthemum  seat. 
Origin. 
In  spite  of  all  this,  however,  it  was  almost  certain  that  China  and  not 
Japan  had  the  honour  of  being  the  actual  home  of  the  Chrysanthemum, 
and,  indeed,  Professor  Anderson  considered  that  the  Chinese  even  to-day 
were  before  the  Japanese  in  their  admiration  for  the  flower.  No  less 
than  2300  years  ago  the  great  Chinese  philosopher,  Confucius,  alluded  to 
“its  yellow  glory,”  and  in  later  years,  about  a  D.  365,  a  Chinese  poet 
raised  its  culture  to  such  a  pitch  of  excellence  in  a  town  named 
Tong-Liu-hsien,  that  it  was  called  the  “  Chrysanthemum  City.” 
References  to  it  were  found  in  several  old  legends,  the  earliest  of  which 
dated  back  to  947  years  B.C.,  when  it  was  said  that  a  certain  youth,  by 
means  of  mystic  inscriptions  on  Chrysanthemum  leaves,  caused  people 
in  his  vicinity  to  attain  to  extraordinary  ages — even  800  years.  Some  of 
them  might  be  living  now,  but  Chrysanthemum  culture  in  England  was 
not,  he  thought,  conducive  to  longevity,  especially  when  the  blooms  were 
“  damping  ”  badly.  The  Chinese  also  used  an  infusion  of  the  blooms  as 
an  eye  water. 
In  Japan  the  Chrysanthemum  could  only  be  traced  back  to  A  D.  1186, 
when  the  swords  of  the  Mikado  were  decorated  with  its  flowers.  They 
cited  230  shades  of  colour,  including  yellow,  purple,  white,  red,  pink, 
and  russet.  There  was  an  Order  of  the  Chrysanthemum  instituted  by 
the  Mikado,  and  only  conferred  at  present  on  about  twenty  people. 
Prince  Bismarck  was,  he  believed,  the  only  European,  not  of  Royal 
blood,  who  possessed  it. 
This  was  perhaps  as  much  as  they  would  care  to  hear  of  the  Chrys¬ 
anthemum  at  home.  For  the  bulk  of  the  preceding  facts  he  was  indebted 
to  Mr.  Arthur  Diosy  tVioe-Ghairman  of  the  Japan  Society),  Mr,  Douglas 
