Noveinher  25,  1897. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDEN  EH. 
f)03 
Chrysanthemum  George  Foster. 
The  season  of  1897  has  seen  the  introduction  of  many  splendid  new 
varieties,  more  especially  in  the  Japanese  section.  Almost  the  whole  of 
these  have  had  brief  descriptive  notes  in  these  pages  from  time  to  time, 
and  amongst  them  was  a  variety  named  George  Foster.  As  being  of  more 
than  ordinary  merit  we  now  give  an  illustration  (fig.  75,  page  507)  of  this, 
reproduced  from  a  photograph  kindly  sent  by  Mr.  W.  .1.  Godfrej’,  who 
is  the  raiser  of  the  variety.  As  may  be  seen,  it  is  a  grandly  built  incurved 
-lapanese  with  broad  very  substantial  florets  of  a  rich  yellow  colour. 
Taking  all  things  into  consideration  it  is  more  than  probable  that  George 
Foster  will  become  a  valuable  Japanese  for  exhibition  purposes.  We 
understand  the  plant  is  an  excellent  grower,  and  the  flowers  come  good 
from  any  bud. 
N.C.S.  Floral  Committee. 
A  MEETING  of  the  Floral  Committee  of  this  Society  was  held  on 
Monday  last  at  the  Royal  Aquarium,  Mr.  T.  Bevan  presiding.  First-class 
certificates  were  awarded  as  under  :  — 
J.  Chamberlain, — A  large  spreading  flower  with  long  broad  florets, 
curling  and  incurving  at  the  tips  ;  colour  bright  crimson  with  old  gold 
reverse.  Shown  by  Mr.  II.  Weeks. 
Madame  Ferld.—X  very  large  incurved;  massive  and  globular  in  build, 
with  medium  sized  florets;  white.  From  IMr.  W.  Wells. 
Julia  Soaramanga.  —A  large,  closely  built  .1  apanese  with  long  narrow 
curling  florets,  twisting  and  intermingling;  colour  pale  rosy  bronze.  Also 
from  Mr.  Wells. 
From  M.  Anatole  Cordonuier  of  Bailleul,  France,  came  some  fairly 
well-growm  blooms,  one  of  which,  called  Don  de  la  Madone,  a  white 
Japanese,  was  commended.  The  Committee  wished  to  see  again  M.  A.  F. 
Feaver,  a  bronzy  yellow-and-crimson  incurved.  A  vote  of  thanks  was 
awarded  to  Mr.  C.  Gibson  for  six  Idooms  of  white  incurved  Japanese 
called  Mustapha.  Other  good  novelties  of  promise  were  Madame  .1. 
Chaur^,  M.  .1.  J.  Glessner,  Lucien  R-^iny,  and  Surpasse  Amiral. 
N.C.S.  General  Committee. 
The  General  Committee  of  this  Society  held  a  meeting  at  Anderton’s 
Hotel,  Fleet  Street,  on  Monday  evening  last,  when  the  chair  was  occupied 
by  Mr.  T.  W.  Sanders.  Minutes  and  correspondence  took  up  some  little 
time,  and  then  a  discussion  upon  the  light  in  the  west  gallery  of  the 
Aquarium  on  the  occasion  of  the  last  show,  which  was  generally  considered 
to  be  bad.  A  model  of  the  Society's  new  small  gold  medal  was  submitted 
for  approval.  It  was  proposed  and  carried  that  the  Classification  Com¬ 
mittee  be  again  called  together  towards  the  end  of  the  present  or  beginning 
of  next  year  to  take  into  consideration  several  new  varieties  of  doubtful 
types.  Mr.  Higgs  was  elected  on  this  Committee  in  the  place  of  Mr.  Owen, 
deceased. 
The  dates  of  the  General  Committee  and  Floral  Committee  meetings 
for  next  season  were  then  decided  upon,  and  are  as  follows  :  —General 
Committee  -August  29th,  September  26th,  October  24th,  November  28th, 
December  19th,  1898  ;  and  January  16th,  1899.  Floral  Committee  — 
September  6th  and  26th,  October  lith,  24th,  31st,  November  14th,  2lst,^ 
28th,  December  6th  and  12th.  There  was  a  good  deal  of  discussion  upon 
other  subjects,  mostly  connected  with  the  shows,  and  of  a  formal  nature. 
The  National  Chrysanthemum  Society. 
Seeing  that  the  exhibitions  of  this  great  Society  have  for  some  time 
ranked  amongst  the  finest  and  most  representative  in  the  kingdom,  and 
seeing,  further,  what  wonderful  success  have  attended  upon  the  great 
exhibitions  of  Chrysanthemums  held  at  Birmingham,  Hull,  Edinburgh, 
Belfast,  and  in  other  large  provincial  towns — shows  held  entirely  on  the 
responsibility  of  the  local  societies,  and  in  buildings  for  the  time  their 
own,  and  apart  from  all  objectionable  surroundings,  I  venture  to  suggest 
that  what  can  be  done  with  such  splendid  results  elsewhere,  may  be 
carried  out  with  e(iual  success  in  London.  Why  should  visitors  to  the 
N.C.S.  show,  who  w'ant  to  see  and  enjoy  the  Chrysanthemum,  be  debarred 
that  capacity  for  enjoyment  in  London  which  other  towns  furnish  I 
There  is  no  exhibition,  and  such  a  grand  exhibition  too,  that  suffers 
so  in  being  cut  up  and  distributed  all  over  the  place,  the  grand  evhibits 
being  stuck  here  and  there  to  suit  the  requirements  of  the  Acpiarium 
manager,  as  does  the  one  of  the  National  Chrysanthemum  Society,  Out 
►  of  the  many  thousands  of  persons  who  crowd  the  place  on  the  show  days 
.two-thirds  at  least  are  attracted  there  to  see  the  show.  Is  it  not  time 
that  the  executive  resolved  to  break  away  from  the  thraldom  which 
makes  the  Society  the  slave  of  the  Aquarium  authorities  ?  In  no 
other  place  in  the  kingdom  is  this  state  of  things  existing.  I  am  sure 
there  are  thousands  of  the  patrons  of  Chiysanthemum  kept  away  because 
they  do  not  like  the,  place,  and  thousands  who  go  there  would  prefer  to 
see  the  show  anywhere  else,  I  hope  the  executive  will  face  this  matter 
boldly.-A.  D. 
Robert  Owen. 
Thi.s  line  Chrysanthemum  is  not  so  often  teen  at  shows  as  it  ought 
to  be.  I’erhaps  some  growers  think  it  too  near  the  incurved  class  for 
.1  apanese.  I  have  here  si.x  plants  in  8-inch  pots  -  each  carrying  three 
blooms— one  of  which  I  send  as  a  specimen.  Some  experience  a  ditticulty 
in  growing  it,  but  I  am  glad  to  say  it  comes  good  here  every  year 
without  any  special  treatment.  The  bloom  sent  is  4,j  inches  deep, 
and  17  inches  in  circumference. —  A.  J.  Long,  Wyfold  Court,  Oxon. 
[Tlie  .specimen  was  a  good  one,  and  showed  that  Mr.  Long’s  treatment 
was  appreciated,] 
Staging  Chrysanthemums  at  Exhibitions, 
As  each  season  goes  by  there  is  always  some  new  feature  of  ))eauty  to 
note  in  the  Chrysanthemum  world.  It  may  be  that  a  colour  Nature  has 
so  long  denied  comes  upon  us  in  full  glory  in  the  shape  of  a  “sport”  or 
seedling  ;  or  perha])S  some  bold  and  artistic  grower  hits  upon  a  novel 
idea  for  arranging  his  plants  to  form  an  effective  group.  Such  depar¬ 
tures  both  gardeners  and  the  public  in  general  hail  as  a  welcome  change. 
In  regard  to  cut  Idooms  in  the  big  classes,  we  still  adhere  to  the 
style  which  has  been  so  long  in  vogue,  although  at  many  shows  classes 
are  provided  for  blooms  staged  with  long  stems  and  arranged  among 
plants  or  other  foliage,  as  well  as  for  blooms  shown  in  large  vases. 
These  are  welcome  departures  from  the  beaten  track  which  make  a 
distinct  feature  and  invariably  command  much  admiration.  At  present, 
however,  there  is  not  the  slightest  sign  that  the  long  practised  style  of 
staging  will  be  superseded,  because  of  the  great  difficulty  experienced 
in  packing  securely  for  travelling  blooms  on  long  stems.  As  the  size 
of  blooms  continues  to  increase,  this  difficulty  is  not  likely  to  be  diminished 
in  the  future.  Should  any  society,  therefore,  be  bold  enough  to  offer  all 
its  prizes  in  the  cut  bloom  section  for  flowers  on  long  stems  it  would 
have  to  depend  on  local  growers  for  exhibits.  This  would  not  be  likely 
to  lead  to  any  great  advance  in  culture,  as  there  is  nothing  like  open 
compel ilion  to  raise  the  standard  of  excellence  at  shows  in  general. 
Seeing  that  the  old  and  well  tried  method  of  staging  is  likely  to 
continue,  every  effort  ought  to  be  made  by  exhibitors  to  render  tliat 
system  as  effective  as  possible.  ( )ue  would  naturally  suppose  that  in 
their  own  interests  they  would  do  this  ;  but  strange  as  it  may  appear,  there 
are  many  exhibitors  whose  stands  of  blooms  show  a  great  lack  of  taste 
and  judgment  in  their  arrangement.  It  is  not  the  men  new  to  the  work 
that  are  the  greatest  offenders  in  this  respect,  as  I  am  acquainted  with 
several  old  exhibitors  who  grow  grand  flowers,  and  often  win  at  important 
shows,  yet  they  do  not  seem  to  have  ac(iuired  the  “knack”  (perhaps 
they  have  not  the  inclination)  of  displaying  their  blooms  to  the  best 
advantage.  One  may  find  them  staging  grand  deep  .1  apanese  blooms 
in  such  a  way  that  the  tops  of  the  flowers  in  each  row  are  almost  level 
with  each  other,  or,  at  the  most,  the  slope  from  back  to  front  is  not  more 
pronounced  than  the  slope  of  the  stands  on  which  they  are  shown. 
On  the  other  hand,  some  seem  to  think  that  the  back  row  cannot 
well  be  placed  too  high,  and  aim  at  forming  as  sharp  an  angle  as  possible. 
I  have  an  idea  that  matters  might  be  considerably  improved  if  societies 
stated  in  their  schedules  the  height  at  which  the  back  row  of  blooms 
should  be  arranged,  measuring,  of  course,  from  the  tops  of  the  flowers. 
In  order  to  prevent  disquali"  cation  through  any  slight  mistakes 
exhibitors  might  make  in  their  measurements,  margin  of  an  inch  could  be 
allowed.  Under  an  arrangement  of  the  above  description  uniformity  in 
the  appearance  of  the  various  exhibits  would  be  obtained  at  shows  where 
the  opposite  state  of  affairs  has  long  prevailed.  Judges,  too,  would  find 
their  work  slightly  simplified,  as  when  flowers  are  competing  stands  are 
•^xed  at  greatly  different  elevations  it  is  difficult  for  the  eye  to  catch 
their  relative  depth. 
The  arrangement  of  colours  is  also  a  matter  which  might  with 
advantage  have  more  attention  paid  to  it  than  it  often  receives.  The  light 
coloured  blooms  ought  to  be  so  placed  as  to  give  the  whole  stand  a  well 
balanced  appearance.  It  is  not  often  that  we  find  such  glaring  errors  made 
as  that  of  placing  two  blooms  side  by  side  whose  colours  absolutely  clash  ; 
but  a  trained  eye  in  colour  blending  knows  that  something  more  than  the 
mere  avoidance  of  glaring  errors  is  necessary  to  secure  the  most  finished 
effect. 
When  we  turn  to  the  classes  provided  for  incurved  blooms,  the  absence 
of  very  rough  examples  is  perhaps  more  notii'eable  than  formerly,  but  for 
this  the  dressers  can  scarcely  be  given  credit.  It  is  rather  because  many 
of  the  new  varieties  grow  into  good  form  with  little  artificial  aid.  To 
dress  blooms  thoroughly  well  a  long  time  is  required,  and  I  fanc}'  the  per¬ 
centage  of  those  who  take  that  necessary  amount  of  trouble  is  less  than  it 
w’as  ten  or  fifteen  years  ago.  There  is  not  generally  so  much^  difference 
between  the  heights  at  which  various  exhibitors  set  up  their  incurved 
blooms  as  may  be  observed  in  the  . I  apanese  classes,  although  I  have  seen 
some  stands  set  up  far  too  high  to  produce  the  best  effect.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  is  no  unusual  occurrence  to  note  stands  of  good  blooms  which  are 
not  set  up  at  all.  This  season,  at  an  important  show,  I  saw  a  flagrant 
error  of  this  description  for  which  the  exhibitor  apparently  paid  dearly, 
as  I  could — after  examining  the  blooms  closely  see  no  other  reason  why 
he  failed  to  obtain  a  much-coveted  prize.  In  this  instance  some  of  the 
liack  row  blooms  w'ere  even  lower  than  those  in  the  second  one,  and  the 
whole  exhibit  failed  entirely  in  showing  the  high  (quality  of  the  blooms 
until  a  close  inspection  had  been  made.  Such  unfortunate  affairs  are,  no 
doubt,  exceedingly  annoying  to  the  victims,  but  the  judges  must,  in  the 
case  of  close  competition,  give  due  weight  to  good  staging,  and  after  a 
grower  has  w'orked  hard  for  a  whole  year  to  grow  fine  blooms,  he  must  be 
singularly  deficient  in  shrewdness  if  he  does  not  find  out  and  practise  the 
w'ay  to  stage  them  to  the  best  advantage. 
