32d 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
April  9,  1896.’ 
National  Chrysanthemum  Society. 
The  annual  outing  erf  the  members  of  the  National  Chrysanthemum 
Society  will,  by  the  kind  permission  of  Lord  Aldenham,  take  the  form 
of  a  visit  to  the  gardens  and  grounds  of  Aldenham  House,  Elstree,  on 
Monday,  July  20th. 
Chrysanthemum  Box. 
I  SHOULD  greatly  esteem  the  kindness  if  some  correspondent  would 
give  me  the  information  through  the  Journal  as  to  the  most  convenient 
size  and  how  best  to  construct  a  travelling  cup-board  for  conveying 
Chrysanthemum  blooms  to  and  from  the  shows. — A. 
THREE  CHRYSANTHEMUM  BOOKS. 
A  New  French  Book  on  the  Chrysanthemum. 
“  Le  Chrysantheme  ii  la  Grande  Fleur,”  par  Anatole  Cordonnier,  is  the 
title  of  a  rather  substantial  ^volume  that  has  just  been  published  by 
a  well-known  admirer  and  cultivator  of  the  golden  flower  in  the  North 
of  France.  It  is  about  the  fifth  testimony  of  its  kind  that  has  been  paid 
to  the  popularity  of  the  Chrysanthemum  this  year,  and  is  by  no  means 
the  least  important,  for  the  author  has  produced  an  excellent  treatise, 
got  up  in  good  style,  neatly  printed,  and  rather  profusely  illustrated  at 
a  price — viz.,  two  francs,  at  which  no  other  French  work  on  the  subject 
can  compete.  There  is  indeed  so  much  for  the  money  that  we  can  only 
deal  with  it  in  a  very  superficial  manner  within  the  limits  of  a  notice 
like  this  : — 
By  far  the  greater  portion  of  “  Le  Chrysantheme  i  la  Grand  Fleur  ”  is 
devoted  to  cultural  matters,  although  the  author  does  make  a  short 
survey  of  the  history  of  the  flowers  in  his  country  between  the  years 
1887  and  1896.  Mons.  Cordonnier  treats  very  fully  the  various  details  of 
propagation  by  cuttings  and  by  seeds.  He  tells  us  also  the  composts  and 
manures  to  be  employed  to  bring  about  the  best  results,  the  repottings 
that  are  necessary,  and  the  treatment  of  the  plants  during  their  young 
stages.  Much  of  this  is,  of  course,  from  the  personal  standpoint  of  the 
author,  and  may  require  some  modification  when  applied  to  culture  in 
different  parts  of  England,  but  then  it  must  be  remembered  Mons. 
Cordonnier’s  object  is  primarily  to  instruct  his  fellow  countrymen  in  an 
art  of  which  they  were  almost  wholly  ignorant  prior  to  his  successful 
display  at  Roubaix  in  1887,  and  of  which  an  illustration  appears  in  the 
new  book. 
Summer  and  autumn  treatment,  and  the  mysteries  of  bud  selection, 
are  ably  dealt  with,  and  the  latter  subject  very  freely  illustrated  by 
way  of  explanation.  Chapters  on  diseases,  insect  pests,  grafting,  open 
air  culture,  pot  culture  for  dwarf  plants,  specimens  and  bush  plants, 
all  receive  attention.  Most  of  the  small  illustrations  in  the  text  are 
woodcuts,  but  there  are  several  large  folded  plates  in  which  the  aid  of 
the  photographer  has  been  called  to  embellish  the  work. 
The  second  part  of  the  volume  is  devoted  to  an  excellent  catalogue 
of  selected  varieties  for  cultivation  on  the  big-bloom  system,  and  in  this 
catalogue  will  be  found  a  large  number  of  the  best  novelties  from  all 
sources — English,  French,  and  American,  showing  pretty  plainly  that 
the  author  is  not  a  man  of  narrow  ideas,  but  one  who  is  able  to  recognise 
merit  in  the  labours  of  other  raisers  than  those  of  his  own  country.  A 
useful  indication  in  part  2  is  the  note  as  to  the  proper  bud  to  select  in 
most  of  the  varieties  described. 
Part  3  dealB  very  widely  with  what  may  be  termed  miscellaneous 
subjects  in  connection  with  the  flower,  and  a  few  of  the  headings  will 
suffice  to  show  their  extent — The  Chrysanthemum  in  England,  in  France, 
Societies,  Floral  Committees,  Shows,  New  Varieties,  and  Popular  Varie¬ 
ties  in  England.  We  think  we  may  safely  affirm  that  English  growers 
who  can  read  French  and  are  sufficiently  interested  iD  the  matter  as  to 
procure  “  Le  Chrysantheme  a  la  Grande  Fleur,”  will  find  much  more 
interesting  matter  on  that  flower  in  France  than  can  be  obtained  in  any 
other  book  on  the  subject.  Until  last  season  no  such  thing  as  a  Chrys¬ 
anthemum  society  existed  in  France,  and  the  reader  will  find  at  the  end 
of  Mons.  Cordonnier’s  book  a  reprint  of  the  rules  of  the  Northern 
Chrysanthemum  Society  of  France,  of  which  he  is  Secretary.  The  work, 
which  is  dedicated  to  Mr.  C.  Harman  Payne,  can  be  obtained  of  the 
author,  Grapheries  du  Nord,  Bailleul  (Nord),  France. 
Owen’s  Chrysanthemum  Culture. 
THE  above  is  the  title  of  a  handy  little  book  of  fifty  pages  which  has 
reached  us  from  Mr.  R.  Owen,  Maidenhead.  Complete  works  on  this 
subject  are  not  very  numerous,  and  room  will  easily  be  found  for  this 
one,  which  combines  with  its  handy  size  the  merits  of  being  clearly 
printed  on  good  paper.  With  the  laudable  object  of  publishing  some¬ 
thing  really  good  Mr.  Owen  has  applied  to  four  men,  than  whom  none 
is  hotter  known  in  the  world  of  the  autumn  queen.  These  are  Messrs. 
W.  II.  Lees,  W.  Tunnington,  E.  Molyneux,  and  C.  Orchard,  names  which 
carry  with  them  the  certainty  of  practical  knowledge  and  literary  ability. 
The  first  named  deals  with  the  culture  of  the  Chrysanthemum  for 
exhibition,  and  gives  some  excellent  advice  in  a  clear,  concise,  and 
forcible  manner,  which  renders  his  contribution  of  much  value.  Instead 
of  saying  more  regarding  this  article  we  will  extract  two  Bhort  para¬ 
graphs  dealing  with  the  taking  of  the  buds,  and  which  will  convey  to 
readers  the  character  of  the  teaching. 
“Though  many  varieties  in  both  Japanese  and  incurved  sections 
produce  the  best  blooms  if  allowed  to  grow  on  naturally,  there  are  some 
which  do  not  make  their  first  break  early  enough  to  allow  time  for  the 
crown  bud  to  develop  by  November,  and  these  must  be  assisted  by 
pinching  away  the  point,  thus  anticipating  the  natural  first  break,  and 
causing  the  crown  bud  to  form  earlier,  which  is  generally  desired  from 
about  the  middle  to  the  end  of  August.  I  will  instance  a  few  varieties, 
and  the  cultivator  will  then  be  able  to  draw  his  own  conclusions  from 
experience  as  to  the  best  time  for  others  of  similar  habit.  Mrs.  F. 
Jameson,  Lord  Brook,  Robert  Owen,  and  W.  G.  Newitt  are  good 
examples.  If  the  point  of  these  varieties  be  removed  about  the  15th  of 
April  the  bud  will  show  at  a  corresponding  date  in  August,  and  the 
resulting  flower  from  this  bud  will  develop  by  the  10th  of  November, 
whereas  if  they  were  left  to  grow  naturally  the  buds  would  not  have 
shown  till  early  in  September,  and  consequently  would  only  develop 
small  blooms  late  in  November. 
“  In  the  incurved  section — with  the  exception  of  Princess  of  Wales 
and  its  sports,  which  are  best  on  crown  buds — the  best  blooms  are 
developed  on  terminal  buds,  which  form  naturally  late  in  August  or 
the  first  week  in  September.  The  varieties  of  Queen  of  England  and 
Princess  Teck,  however,  do  not  as  a  rule  (excepting  in  the  extreme 
South  of  England)  show  their  terminal  buds  quite  early  enough,  and 
these  must  be  hastened  in  the  same  way  as  advised  for  gome  of  the 
Japanese,  by  taking  away  the  points  about  the  20th  of  the  month,  and 
this  will  bring  the  bud  at  the  right  time.  Of  course  the  stopping  must 
be  done  earlier  or  later,  as  experience  will  dictate  in  various  districts. 
In  the  North  and  Scotland  many  varieties  will  not  form  their  crown 
bud  till  late  in  August,  and  these  buds  will  then  give  first-rate  flowers ; 
given  good  cultivation  it  is  entirely  a  question  of  timing  the  buds  in 
obtaining  the  best  flowers — whichever  bud  is  most  easy  to  get  on  a  given 
date  in  a  particular  district  will  be  the  one  to  take. 
“I  have  been  speaking  hitherto  of  plants  grown  for  large  blooms, 
and  the  same  general  treatment  will  apply  to  all  sections  up  to  this 
date  ;  those  plants  to  be  grown  for  specimens  should  be  rooted  as  early 
as  possible  in  December,  and  the  points  taken  out  as  soon  as  the  plant 
is  strong  enough  in  the  new  year,  in  order  to  make  it  branch  out,  and 
so  on,  pinching  the  resulting  shoots  in  their  turn  when  a  few  inches 
long,  in  order  to  get  as  many  of  good  healthy  growths  as  possible  by 
the  end  of  June,  to  train  into  formal  specimens  or  otherwise  late  in  the 
summer.  Bush-grown  plants  to  produce  a  quantity  of  blooms  for 
decorative  purposes  may  be  grown  in  the  same  way  as  those  for 
specimen  plants,  less  the  trouble  of  training.  Having,  I  hope,  made 
clear  the  object  in  stopping  the  plants,  especially  for  large  blooms,  and 
the  general  principle  involved — viz.,  the  timing  of  the  flower  bud,  which 
I  would  urge  is  of  the  utmost  importance,  and  to  a  large  extent  must  be 
worked  out  by  the  cultivator  in  his  own  particular  district,  we  will 
return  to  details  of  cultivation  in  April. 
“  A  first-rate  soil  is  that  composed  of  three  parts  good  fibrous  loam, 
broken  up  roughly,  with  the  remaining  fourth  part  composed  of  one- 
third  leaf  soil,  one-third  well  decayed  horse  manure,  and  one-third  wood 
ashes  and  lime  rubble  to  keep  the  soil  open  ;  to  this  add  a  sprinkling  of 
finely  ground  bones  if  the  loam  be  of  a  poor  nature ;  let  the  whole  be 
well  mixed  together  for  a  few  days  before  it  is  required,  and  have  pots, 
most  of  which  should  be  10-inch  size,  in  readiness.  The  pots  must  be 
well  drained  in  the  usual  way,  and  a  very  few  half-inch  bones  may  be 
sprinkled  over  the  drainage  ;  cover  this  with  a  handful  of  rough  parts 
of  the  soil,  and  pot  carefully  and  firmly.  It  is  not  necessary  to  leave 
room  for  top-dressing  as  some  growers  advise,  but  fill  the  pots  to  within 
li  inch  of  the  rim.  The  pot  mentioned  above  will  suit  the  great  bulk 
ot  varieties,  but  there  are  a  few  weakly  growers  that  will  be  best  suited 
in  a  size  smaller.” 
In  conclusion,  Mr.  Lees  gives  two  lists  of  varieties,  all  excellent,  and 
enhances  their  value  by  suggesting  which  bud  is  the  best.  In  tbe 
Japanese  he  places  Madame  Carnot  first,  and  suggest  late  crown  buds, 
and  the  same  for  Chas.  H.  Curtis,  which  heads  the  incurved. 
Both  Mr.  Tunniugton  and  Mr.  Molyneux  dilate  in  calendarial  fashion 
of  the  cultivation  of  these  plants,  and  give  hints  in  goodly  numbers  that 
cannot  be  other  than  of  very  great  assistance  to  growers  of  all  grades, 
that  of  the  latter  being  especially  useful  for  beginners. 
Mr.  C.  Orchard  discourses  at  some  length  on  “  How  to  grow  dwarf 
plants  for  grouping,  and  how  the  first  prize  was  got  at  Kingston.”  The 
cultural  details  here  are,  as  everyone  would  expect  from  this  expert, 
sound  and  conveyed  in  such  a  pleasing  way  as  to  be  readily  grasped 
even  by  the  most  inexperienced. 
Altogether  the  book  is  a  capital  sixpennyworth,  with  which  every 
grower  should  make  himself  thoroughly  familiar,  as  none  could  read  it 
without  receiving  considerable  benefit.  In  a  future  edition,  however, 
the  spelling  of  some  of  the  names  might  with  advantage  be  corrected, 
though  even  in  this  respect  there  is  little  to  cavil  at. 
“Wells’  Book  on  the  Culture  of  the  Chrysanthemum.” 
“  It  never  rains  but  it  pours”  is  an  old  adage,  the  truth  of  which  is 
demonstrated  once  again  by  the  above,  which  came  to  hand  with  Mr. 
Owen’s.  The  fame  of  Mr.  Wells  as  a  grower,  raiser,  and  exhibitor  of 
Chrysanthemums  is  ample  justification  for  the  publication  of  this  book, 
which  comprises  seventy-five  pages  of  well  printed  matter.  Illustrations 
are  fairly  numerous,  but,  as  a  rule,  they  are  suggestive  rather  than  artistic. 
Regarding  his  reasons  for  publishing  this  work,  we  may  well  let  the 
author  speak  for  himself.  In  the  introduction  he  says,  “  My  object  in 
writing  this  book  is  to  give  to  all  Chrysanthemum  lovers  a  few  hints  as 
