GO 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
January  16,  1902. 
1 
Late  ChryBanthemums. 
I  have  noticed  each  year  in  the  pages  of  the  Journal  a  desire 
for  knowledge  by  private  gardeners,  of  the  best  late-flowering 
Chrysantheniuins.  Being  a  grower  for  sale  myself,  it  is  very 
necessary^  that  I  should  be  able  to  supply  Chrysanthemums  at 
Christmas  and  during  January  and  February,  when  good  flowers 
on  long  stems  are  not  so  very  plentiful,  and  therefore  command 
better  prices.  Niveus  for  Christmas  we  cannot  yet  do  without. 
I  have  not  yet  (Januai'y  9)  finished  cutting  blooms.  Of  Sunshine, 
L.  Canning,  and  Red  Canning  I  am  sending  blooms  for  your 
inspection.  I  find  them  excellent  for  our  purpose.  I  have  no 
doubt  there  are  plenty  more  varieties  of  recent  introduction,  but 
I  have  yet  to  find  better  than  these  good  old  standard  sorts,  and 
can  recommend  anyone  who  desires  a  supply  of  flowers  during 
January  and  February  to  grow  a  good  batch  of  them. — A.  Blakey, 
Howden,  E.  Yorks.  [The  blooms  were  fresh  and  beautiful. — Ed.] 
Chrysanthemum  Niveus. 
I  see  in  an  interesting  note  from  “  Saynor,”  that  he  is  rather 
surprised  to  find  I  did  not  include  Niveus  in  my  list  of  Christmas 
Chi-ysanthemums.  This  arose  from  two  causes.  In  the  first  case 
all  my  blooms  of  this  variety  were  cut  early  in  December,  and 
in  the  second  case  I  have  ceased  to  regard  it  as  a  Christmas 
variety,  but  rather  as  an  early  December  sort.  But  I  have  no 
doubt  my  particular  case  is  hardly  on  all  fours  with  the  majority 
of  instances,  for  all  my  blooms  are  cut  for  market  purposes 
before  they  are  fully  developed,  and  I  find  Niveus  gets  veiy  soft 
in  the  floret  before  Christinas  week,  though  thousands  of  blooms 
are  held  back  for  the  festival  by  some  of  our  best  market 
growers,  and  no  doubt  in  private  gardens,  where  they  have  been 
grown  as  cool  as  possible,  they  make  a  good  Christmas  display ; 
but  if  I  dare  presume  to  oft'er  “  Saynor  ”  a  little  advice,  it  would 
certainly  be  to  add  a  few  of  the  other  white  kinds  to  his  collec¬ 
tion  for  this  particular  season,  and  I  am  sure  he  will  not  regret  it. 
— An  Old  Contbibutor. 
Variety  at  Chrysanthemum  Shows. 
A  well-written  letter  in  an  American  trade  journal  contains 
such  expressions  as  the  following,  which  seem  to  apply  almost 
with  greater  force  to  growers  here  than  to  those  for  whom  the 
letter  is  directly  intended.  The  writer  is  of  opinion  that 
“variety  at  shows  is  absolutely  necessary,  both  as  to  sorts  and 
arrangement.  But  it  must  be  acknowledged  that  the  big  blooms 
are  a  great  drawing  card  with  the  public ;  they  have  very  little 
interest  in  the  fact  of  whether  the  variety  is  hardy  or  easy  to 
grow  to  perfection.  They  do  know,  by  personal  experience, 
that  it  is  very  easy  to  produce  small  blooms,  but  they  dearly  love 
to  stand  and  Avonder  over  the  big  ones ;  and  no  one  may  blame 
them,  for  in  a  hall,  or  church,  or  exhibition,  these  blooms  are 
appropriate  and  beautiful.  Further,  as  to  variety  and  novelty 
at  the  shows.  The  English  are  beginning  to  break  away  from 
the  flat  boards,  much  to  their  OAAn  enjoyment.  In  my  own 
mind,  I  feel  as  if  we  ought  to  break  away — if  it  is  at  all  feasible — 
from  our  long  tables  draped  in  Avhite,  Avith  their  roAvs  of  vases 
side  by  side,  like  soldiers  on  dress  parade.  That  AA’as  all  very 
Avell  Avhen  the  Chrysanthemum  AA’as  a  wonderful  novelty ;  since 
then  people  have  become  familiar  Avith  fine  Chrysanthemums  by 
eA^eryday  use  of  them  in  their  season;  they  decorate  their  homes 
with  them ;  they  knoAv  how  they  ought  to  be  arranged  to  produce 
the  best  effect.  If  Ave  could  take  seventy-five  blooms,  three  in 
a  vase,  and  arrange  them  in  a  grotto,  mound,  or  flower-bed  form, 
completely  hiding  the  vases,  a  very  beautiful  picture  might  be 
produced  that  would  delight  the  beholder.  Points  should  be 
allowed  for  garniture  and  for  arrangement.  Immediately  the 
criticism  is  made  that  the  judges’  Avork  is  rendered  extremely 
difficult.  It  certainly  Avould  be,  for  in  addition  to  '  counting 
his  points,’  as  usual,  he  Avould  have  these  other  items  to 
estimate ;  but,  my  dear  critic,  these  shoAvs  ought  not  to  be 
arranged  for  the  convenience  of  the  judges,  nor,  prianarily,  for 
the  sa,tisf action  of  the  exhibitors.  The  first  object  of  a  fioAver- 
shoAA-  is  to  carr>^  the  public  aAA  ay  AAuth  enthusiastic  admiration  of 
the  beauty  of  the  flowers  and  make  people  wild  to  possess  them 
on  all  sorts  of  occasions;  to  give  the  people  ideas  as  to  fine  com¬ 
binations,  and  suitable  embellishing  material.  The  public  has 
spoken  of  its  weariness  of  the  former ;  let  us  give  something  of 
which  the  people  have  not  grown  tired.  Show  them  sprays  of 
pompones.  Anemones,  tight  little  Chinese  incurves,  feathery 
sorto.  singles,  and  oddities  in  general ;  in  short,  give  them 
novelty  in  variety ;  but  groAA  ers  Avill  not  do  this  unless  schedules 
are  made  to  cover  such  accessories.  Human  nature  as  a  Avorker 
is  very  prone  to  fall  into  a  rut;  it  does  not  like  the  trouble  of 
formulating  neAv  ideas,  still  less  of  carrjung  them  out  ;  and  yet 
this  same  human  nature  as  a  consumer  for  ever  and  ever  cries 
out  for  novelty,  Avhether  in  architecture,  furnishings,  dress, 
food,  or  floAvers.” 
A  Collection  in  South-west  London. 
On  page  61  there  is  an  illustration  of  a  collection  of 
Chrj'santhemums  such  as  AA'ill  delight  tlie  eyes  of  fanciers  and 
many  others  aaIio  do  not  so  class  themselves,  yet  Avho  largely 
groAv  this  necessary  autumn  and  '.A'inter  flowering  genus.  The 
collection  is  that  of  G.  R.  Peerless,  Esq.,  Park  Hill  House, 
Park  Hill,  Clapham,  S.W.  This  is  one  of  the  very  old  houses 
of  this  district  of  London,  of  Avhich  old  type  very  feAA’  are  now 
left. 
There  is  no  need  on  our  part  to  praise  the  grand  quality  of 
the  plants  and  the  blooms  they  carry.  The  conservatorj',  he 
tells  us,  is  very  AA’ell  adapted  for  blooming  the  Chrysanthemums. 
It  certainly  has  a  handsome  internal  appearance.  Mr.  Peerless 
also  sends  a  list  of  the  chief  varieties  he  groAvs,  Avhich  are  as 
folloAvs : — Left  side:  Alice  Byron,  Marquis  de  Venosta,  W.  R. 
Church  (a  splendid  A'ariety  noAv  Avell  knoAvii),  Calv'at’s  ’99,  IMrs. 
J.  Bryant,  Mrs.  Barkley,  Florence  Molyneux,  Mutual  Friend, 
Mrs.  White  Popham,  Australie.  Edith  Tabor  (still  a  first-rate 
variety  and  great  faAmurite),  Mr.  T.  Carrington,  Lady  Byron, 
and  Mrs.  Coombes. 
The  right-hand  side  is  filled  up  AA-ith  cut-backs  such  as  Lady 
^elborne  (used  so  finely  in  the  house  at  Battersea  Park),  James 
vSalter,  Source  d’Or,  and  the  more  recent  Mrs.  Wingfield,  a 
beautiful  pink  sort.  The  variety  that  gave  the  greatest  effect, 
hoAvever,  Avas  the  single-floAvered  Mary  Anderson,  and  Avhich  is 
seen  so  distinctly  in  the  illustration.  Such  a  fine  picture  at 
this  late  season  must  inspire  the  growers,  and  add  fire  to  the 
Avaning  fever.  Mr.  Peerless  returns  thanks  to  “  An  Old  Con¬ 
tributor,”  Avho,  on  page  39,  was  kind  enough  to  name  sixteen 
late  Chrysanthemum  varieties  Avhieh  are  still  blooming  Avith 
him,  and  promise  fioAvers  till  the  end  of  this  month. 
Seasonable  Hints  on  Vine  Borders. 
Throughout  January  the  pruning  and  clearing  of  Vines 
and  dressing  the  borders,  are  important  items  of  work  in 
hosts  of  gardens,  and  all  who  desire  to  meet  with  continual 
success  in  Grape  growing  cannot  afford  to  neglect  this 
annual  overhauling  of  the  borders.  I  am  convinced,  how¬ 
ever,  that  at  one  time  many  cultivators  placed  too  much 
faith  in  the  yearly  coating  of  fresh  compost  for  being  capable 
of  “  putting  Vines  right  for  the  season,”  no  matter  what 
their  condition  may  have  been.  In  some  cases  I  have  seen 
layers  of  soil  piled  on  to  the  border  each  year,  notwith¬ 
standing  the  fact  that  very  few  roots  Avere.  visible,  and  it  is 
perhaps  needless  to  point  out  that  top-dressings  given 
under  such  conditions  are  not  likely  to  benefit  the  Vines 
greatly.  The  great  point  to  act  upon  is  to  remove  the  old 
soil  until  plenty  of  roots  are  found,  and  then  surround  them 
with  fresh  and  good  compost. 
Again,  the  surface  of  a  border  seems  a  perfect  network 
of  fibrous  roots,  then,  of  course,  it  is  only  desirable  to  loosen 
the  soil  lightly  with  a  fork  before  adding  fresh  soil.  In 
other  instances,  however,  it  may  be  necessary  to  remove 
sin  or  Gin  of  old  soil  before  the  roots  are  reached,  but  when 
Vines  are  in  good  condition  surface  roots  are  generally 
plentiful  enougn.  During  recent  years  the  use  of 
Suitable  Chemical  Manures 
jjas  done  much  to  promote  surface  root  action,  and  where 
they  are  regularly  employed  one  does  not  often  find  the 
cultivator  complaining  about  the  difficulty  of  secuiang  good 
results.  Under  the  old  method  of  using  dung  alone  for 
feeding  Vines  it  was  necessary  to  bestow  a  good  deal  more 
attention  upon  keeping  the  roots  in  order  than  is  the  case 
noAA'.  The  enormous  increase  in  commercial  Grape  growing 
Avhich  has  taken  place  in  this  country  during  the  last  ten 
years  has,  I  think,  been  largely  brought  about  by  the 
splendid  results  obtained  by  using  chemical  manures,  which 
has  tended  to  simplify  the  whole  system  of  culture.  Let 
us  hope  that  the  anticipated  festivities  in  connection  with 
the  Coronation  will  have  the  effect  of  hardening  prices,  for 
of  late  they  have  been  so  low  that  the  margin  of  profit  must 
in  many  cases  have  been  very  small  indeed. 
The  question  nOAv  arises  as  to  w’hat  manures  are  the 
most  suitable  for  the  purpose,  and  I  may  say  that  there 
