January  5,  1899. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
13 
UMSl 
CHRYSAXTOEMUM  AIRS.  :^r.  SIMPSON. 
I  AM  sonrlicg  you  a  spray  of  what  I  consider  to  be  the  finest 
of  all  white  flowered  Chrysanthemums  for  use  at  Christmas.  For 
the  last  two  years  I  have  grown  it  with  Niveus  as  a  test,  and  I 
have  now  no  hesitation  in  according  to  it  the  place  of  honour 
among  white  flowering  varieties.  It  is  an  English  raised  seedling 
obtained  by  Mr.  X.  Alolyneiix,  Rookesbury  Park,  Fareham.  Fur 
producing  largo  exhibition  blooms  during  the  month  of  December  it 
is  equally  valuable.  The  florets  are  lance  shaped,  of  medium  width 
and  length,  and  the  colour  is  pure  white.  Treated  as  a  freely  grown 
bush,  lovely  sprays  carrying  from  five  to  eight  good  sized  blooms  on 
extra  stout  stems  18  inches  long,  which  render  this  variety  so  useful 
for  vase  decoration. — E.  Molynedx. 
[A  spray  sent  by  our  contributor  bears  cut  all  he  says  of  Mis. 
M.  Simpson.  It  consisted  of  six  or  seven  flowers  of  snowy  whiteness 
in  one  compact  truss.] 
CHRYSANTHEMUM  TRADERS. 
Several  catalogues  of  the  great  trade  growers  of  ChiTsanthernurns 
have  come  to  hand.  Judging  by  what  one  reads  in  them  I  can  but 
paraphrase  an  old  observation,  and  say,  “  See  how  these  traders  love 
one  another.”  But,  after  all,  is  it  real  "love”  which  is  in  these  lists 
made  so  apparent,  or  is  it  only  a  little  trade  "bluff?”  We  are  .nil 
familiar  with  the  game  of  the  rival  showmen  at  the  fair,  who  in 
public  denounce  each  other,  but  in  private  are  warm  friends.  The 
pretended  quarrels  serve  to  interest  and  excite  tl  e  public,  also  some¬ 
what  to  blind  them.  Is  it  so  in  the  case  of  these  Chrysanthemum 
traders  ?  Those  gold  medals  seem  to  constitute  the  bone  of  contention. 
But  when  the  next  distribution  comes,  and  Snr.ith  or  Brown  gets  one, 
why  then  of  the  disputants  one  at  least  is  temporarily  satisfied.  Still 
there  is  the  bitter  ciy  of  the  discontented  in  print,  and  no  awards  of 
gold  medals  can  wipe  it  out. 
Does  it  not  seem  as  if,  after  all,  greed  for  gold  in  tl  e  shape  of 
medals  had  as  much  power  to  influence  traders  as  similar  greed  has 
for  some  gardeners,  who  are  prone  to  haggle  over  their  little  wins  at 
shows.  AYould  it  were  possible  to  create  amongst  all  clashes  of 
exhibitors  a  little  more  love  for  their  products,  all  so  beautiful,  and 
rather  less  of  anxiety  to  stcure  the  "  pieces.”  But  where  has  not  the 
greed  for  golel  permeated  ?  We  may,  howevxr,  wish  to  see  e'ur 
Chrysanthemum  catalogues  free  from  these  bitter  complaints  hence¬ 
forth,  even  if  they  be  based  on  correct  grounds.  What  do  the  public 
care  about  such  trivial  things  ? — A.  D. 
CHRYSANTHEMUM  PROBLEMS. 
When  we  begin  to  force  many  varieties  of  Chrysanthemums  out 
of  their  natural  course  to  meet  our  exhibition  requirements,  Avhich 
restrict  the  blooming  period  to  about  twenty-one  days’  duration,  and 
expect  every  plant  to  produce  blooms  as  good  as  if  we  allowed  them 
to  develop  in  their  natural  course,  we  are  confronted  avith  results  as 
conflicting  as  they  are  tantalising.  In  a  vague  way  we  begin  to  talk 
about  the  wood  being  under-ripe  or  over-ripe,  as  the  case  may  be, 
without  reference  to  the  true  character  of  the  plant,  and  often  without 
any  conception  of  what  is  really  meant  by  ripened  wood  as  applied  to 
Chrysanthemums.  If  the  e.\trcmes  of  ripeness  explain  our  failures  we 
should  at  least  take  care  that  attention  bo  directed  to  the  intirmtdiatc 
degrees,  and  especially  to  that  degree  which  gives  the  best  results. 
Ripened  wood  is  not  a  mere  figure  of  speech,  neither  is  the  degree 
of  its  ripeness  to  be  aveighed  or  measured  except  by  the  study  of  the 
character  of  the  plant,  the  manner  (f  its  growth,  and  a  due  considera¬ 
tion  of  the  question  how  the  ripening  influenocs  arc  brought  about  in 
general,  and  in  the  Chrysanthemum  iu  particula'.  In  no  other  class 
of  cultivated  plants  do  we  find  so  wide  a  divergence  in  individual 
constitutionals,  requiring  separate  and  individual  knowledge,  and  conse¬ 
quently  separate  treatment  and  manipulation  to  hi ing  them  into  line 
with  the  requirements  of  the  cultivator.  We  have  also  to  take  into 
account,  as  affecting  the  complications  alluded  to,  that  the  processes  of 
feeding,  lipening,  seeming  the  bud,  and  development  of  the  bloom,  in 
the  abstract,  though  looked  upon  as  separate  processe.®,  in  the  concrete 
are  inter-dependent — influencing  each  other  as  to  largely  affect 
the  results  in  the  aggregate.  Fur  instance,  in  addition  to  sunshine 
and  climatic  influences,  the  liieidng  processes  are  hugely  influenced 
by  the  nature  and  extent  of  the  feeding,  as  ripeness  iu  some  degree  is 
first  necessary  to  induce  the  formation  of  the  flower  bud,  an  i  later 
in  a  larger  degree  for  the  development  of  the  bud  into  a  perfect  bloom. 
Notwithstanding  all  this  it  follows  that  growth,  bud  formation, 
aud  the  necessary  degree  of  ripeness  must  be  so  timed  that  the 
climatic  conditions  are  favourable  to  ]rerfect  after  development  of 
bloom.  Some  varieties,  of  which  Mrs.  H.  Weeks  is  a  type,  require  a 
whole  growing  season  to  produce  one  instalment  of  growth  and 
flower  bud  which  will  develop  into  a  satisfactory  bloom,  whilst  other 
varieties  of  the  Viviand  Morel  type  produce  in  the  same  time  twm 
or  three  instalments  of  growth,  each  terminated  by  a  flower  bud. 
This  constitutional  variation  is  again  illustrated  by  the  numerous 
varieties  blooming  in  their  natural  course,  each  in  its  season  from 
August  to  December.  When  we  realise  that  the  process  of  flowering, 
as  part  and  parcel  of  the  seed  tearing  leading  up  to  reproduction,  is 
the  result  of  some  degree  of  maturity  (ripenes.^),  and  why  varieties  so 
nearly  related  as  having  one  common  origin,  as,  say,  the  Japanese 
section,  all  submitted  to  the  same  climatic  conditions  aud  the  same 
cultural  treatment,  should  show  these  widely  different  degrees  of 
precocity,  we  are  led  to  inquire  the  reason.^. 
It  would  be  easy  to  generalise,  and  state  that  constitutional 
variation,  inherent  all  through  Nature,  as  shown  by  the  laws  of 
adaptation  and  the  survival  of  the  fittest,  would  account  for  such 
wonderful  pjhcnomena  ;  but  as  this  maturing  or  ripening  of  the  wood 
is  the  bedrock  upon  which  the  intelligent  Chrysanthemum  grower 
must  build  up  the  superstructure  of  his  routine  culture,  it  would  be 
well  to  eliminate  from  his  practice  as  much  guesswork  as  possible, 
and  try  to  grasp  the  full  meaning  of  the  term  "  ripjened  wood.” 
From  the  simple  elements  plants  build  up  their  own  structure, 
and,  so  to  speak,  manufacture  the  basis  of  life  in  an  increasing  ratia 
concurrently  with  the  demand  for  further  growth.  Professor  S.  H. 
Vines,  the  most  reliable  vegetable  physiologist  living,  puts  the 
matter  as  follows; — It  is  the  light  and  heat  of  the  sun  which 
supplies  the  energy,  and  the  green  chlorophyll  of  the  leaf  is  the 
means  by  which  it  does  it.  Intcr.«persed  amidst  the  protoplasm, 
which  is  the  living  principle,  or  the  substance  endowed  with  life,  and 
carried  along  with  most  of  its  movements  within  the  cell  walls,  are 
numerous  little  spongy  bodies  penetrated  through  and  through  with 
the  chloroph}  11  or  green  colouring  matter.  These  minute  bodies  are 
known  as  the  chloroplastids,  an!  are  the  nucleus  of  the  starch 
granules,  which  result  from  a  series  of  chemical  changes,  and  form 
the  basis  of  the  ternary  or  carbo-hydrate  series  of  compiounds,  which 
will  be  further  re'^erred  to.  The  pirotoflasm  is  of  a  more  complex 
ch.aracter  ;  both  it  and  the  chloroplastids  are  built  up  at  great  cost  and 
energy  to  the  plant,  and  consequently  we  find  it  takes  good  care  that 
it  is  used  to  the  best  advantage  ;  they  have  a  great  de.al  of  work  to 
do  with  very  little  material.  The  chloroplastids  are  ranged  along  the 
inner  walls  cf  the  cell,  like  rows  of  buns  in  a  shop  window,  and  appear 
somewhat  of  the  same  shape.  When  the  sun  shines  brightly  they 
come  to  the  surface  and  expose  their  edges  to  it ;  if  the  sunshine  is 
feeble  they  lay  their  flat  sides  up  so  as  to  absorb  every  available  ray 
that  falls  on  the  leaf ;  but  should  the  sunlight  be  very  intense  they 
are  shrunk  away  into  that  part  of  the  cell  furthest  away  from  the  light. 
The  object  of  these  movements  of  the  chloroplastids  is  to  get  a 
maximum  of  work  with  the  least  possible  waste  of  energy.  As  the 
celt  sap  with  its  mineral  salts  in  solution  is  brought  up  from  the  roots 
to  the  leaves,  it  comes  in  contact  with  the  products  of  assimilation  in 
course  of  manufacture  in  the  chlorophyll  cells;  the  salts  lake  their 
part  in  the  elaboration  of  the  nutiitive  materials  of  growth,  while  the 
water  is  transpired  through  the  cull  walls  into  the  intercellular  spaces, 
thence  into  the  opjen  air. 
This  wonderful  adaptation  of  the  chlorcpflastids  to  the  intensity 
and  degree  of  sunshine  in  connection  with  their  special  functional 
work  is  as  beautiful  as  it  is  wonderful,  and,  in  the  light  thus  thrown 
upon  it,  w'e  need  not  be  at  all  surprised  why  varieties  of  the  Chrys¬ 
anthemum  having  the  same  pvirentage  should  vary  in  the  time  needed 
to  acquire  the  necessary  degree  of  maturity  (ripeness)  to  induce  the 
formation  of  the  flower  bud  as  leading  to  reproduction.  In  simple 
terms  it  may  be  put  that  some  varieties  are  endowed  with  pow'er  to 
ihat  end  of  doing  more  work  (viz.,  the  early  varieties  than  the  later 
varietie>)  during  the  time  the  sun  shines,  in  a  lesser  or  greater  degree 
according  to  the  amount  of  sunshine  available,  the  assimilation  of 
starch  as^the  basis  of  the  ternary  compounds,  carbon,  hydrogen,  and 
oxygen  goes  on  when  the  sun  shines,  more  slowly  if  the  Aveather  is 
dull,  in  the  dark  ceasing  entirel}'. 
As  showing  the  necessity  of  sunshine,  and  the  enormous  energy 
evolved  by  the  chloroplastids  in  setting  free  the  carbon  of  the  atmo¬ 
sphere  to  be  chemically  recombined  in  building  up  the  .structure  of  a 
plant,  W'e  have  only  to  note  the  laige  proportion  of  carbon  of  w'hich  it 
is  com)  o  cd,  Avith  the  fact  that  the  atmosphere  as  the  only  source  of 
it  available  to  the  plant  contains  only  four  parts  in  10,000,  and  without 
carbon  in  its  dun  jirojiortion  there  can  be  no  starch,  and  as  cellulose  of 
AA'h’ch  the  cell  Avails  are  built  is  alike  to  starch  in  the  proportions 
of  its  chemical  elements  there  could  be  no  structural  carbon  skeleton 
of  the  plant.  The  assimilation  of  starch  is  the  first  (f  a  series  of 
chemical  changes  of  the  ternary  compound.-^,  and  later  of  the  more 
complex  nitrogenous  compound.®,  AA'hich  are  passed  on  to  the  groAving 
point  and  utilistd  in  building  up  the  cell  Avails,  and  furnishing  the 
living  cell  contents. 
