JOURNAL  DF  HORTICULTURL  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
January  22,  19C3. 
Anything  written  by  Mr.  Molyneux  on  the  growth  of  Chrys¬ 
anthemums  is  always  most  interesting,  and  is  made  the  more  so 
by  reason  of  the  facilities  afforded  him  as  a  judge  at  many 
November  shows.  His  analysis  of  show  blooms  is  awaited 
annually  and  read  with  much  enthu.siasm  by  a  large  section  of 
Journal  readers.  The  exhibition  section  having  had  their  praises 
given,  Mr.  Molyneux  very  wisely  and  usefully  turns  his  attention 
to  another  phase  of  Chrysanthemum  culture^ — the  decorative 
section.  To  me  there  seems  a  ta.sk  of  almo.st  equal  difficulty  in 
choosing  the  best  for  this  purpose  as  for  exhibition.  Among  those 
grown  for  specimen  blooms  there  are  undoubtedly  many  that 
are  well  adapted  for  the  flower  basket. 
It  is  not  often  that  the  opinion  or  views  of  Mr.  Molyneux 
are  questioned,  but  in  his  latest  selection  it  occurs  to  some  that 
he  has  been,  if  anything,  over-generous  in  the  matter  of  variety. 
It  is  true  that  they  are  classified  both  in  section  and  variety, 
so  that  selections  may  be  made  from  these  sub-sections  by  anyone 
desirous  of  extending  their  lists  in  any  one  direction.  I  observe 
that  altogether  139  varieties  are  enumerated,  which  for  decorative 
uses  alone  one  would  consider  ample  for  everybody  ;  yet.  while 
such  thoughts  may  arise,  there  are  some  others  equally  desirable. 
Among  incurveds  we  find  Bonnie  Dundee  one  of  the  best. 
It  is  of  good  habit,  I'etains  its  foliage  down  to  the  pot,  free 
in  flower,  and  the  colour  bright  and  lasting.  As  a  bush  plant 
we  find  it  better  than  C.  H.  Curtis,  and  this  after  several 
seasons'  trial.  Lord  Brooke  and  Edwin  Beckett  are  two  recently 
mentioned  varieties  that  are  really  deserving  of  being  retained, 
both  for  their  colours  and  freedom  of  flower.  Mermaid  we  have 
found  a  di.stinctly  pleasing  sort,  blush-tinted  white,  of  graceful 
outlines.  Silver  Wedding  is  a  white,  pure,  free,  and  beautiful. 
This  we  have  grown  without  pinching,  and  for  conservatory 
decoration  in  January  is  most  commendable.  Nor  does  Mr. 
Molyneux  mention  the  white  and  yellow  Mrs.  J.  Thomp.son  and 
Madame  Felix  Perrin,  good  so  late  in  winter.  Possibly  tho 
Princess  Victoria  and  sports  are  considered  superior,  thus  leav¬ 
ing  them  without  a  purpose.  Last,  but  not  least,  Ralph  Hatton 
gives  nice  spi'ays  of  rosy-purple  flowers,  lasting  well  into 
January,  a  time  when  such  a  colour  is  most  acceptable. — 
S.  M.,  Trowbridge. 
A  Good  Late  Variety. 
Having  noticed  several  lists  of  Mums  for  late  work  and  not 
seeing  the  variety  Mrs.  J.  S.  Fogg  included,  I  venture  to  send 
you  a  few  blooms.  I  know  of  no  better  variety,  as  a  yellow,  for 
bush  work.  It  is  much  later  than  W’^.  H.  Lincoln  ;  also  much 
better  in  petal,  keeps  well,  and  foliage  good,  needs  no  disbudding, 
as  you  will  observe  by  tho.se  sent.  I  have  had  this  variety  in 
flower  at  the  end  of  Febiuary,  and  think  it  ought  to  be  better 
known.  I  a.sk  if  you  will  be  good  enough  to  make  a  note  of 
it  in  the  Journal.  I  have  grown  500  of  it  for  the  past  five 
seasons  without  a  failure,  as  is  the  case  at  times  with  W.  H. 
Lincoln  and  L.  Canning.  No  doubt  many  readers  of  the  Journal 
will  be  pleased  to  hear  of  such  a  reliable  variety. — G.  Nobbs, 
Osborne. 
[From  the  flowers  sent  we  judge  this  tO'  be  a  most  admirable 
variety.  The  stems  branch  profusely,  and  carry  numerous 
flowers,  with  prettily  turned  fluted  florets,  very  smooth.  The 
colour  is  indeed  beautiful,  exactly  like  the  new  yellow  Jap  named 
Beauty  of  Leigh.  Mr.  Nobbs  may  well  write  eulogistically  of 
so  fine  a  flower. — Fd.] 
Pompon  Chrysanthemums. 
That  these  little  gems  are  steadily  becoming  more  popular 
one  only  need  look  at  the  gardens  of  every  class  during  the 
late  autumn,  when  nearly  every  other  blooming  plant  has  been 
killed  or  their  flowers  at  least  destroyed  by  early  frost,  heavy 
rainstorms,  Ac.,  and  you  can  see  the  Pompon  Chrysanthemum 
flourishing  in  all  it.>  gloiy.  A  few  degrees  of  frost  does  not 
mar  its  beauty,  hence  it  is  the  one  flower  that  eveiyone  (an 
('iijoy  when  all  others  are  past. 
Tho  three  or  four  old  varietieis  of  Artemisia  which  our  an- 
ce.stors  planted  in  their  gardens  and  in  many  seetious  can  still 
be  seen  growing  luxuriantly  after  half  a  century  or  more  in  the 
same  position.  From  these  have  sprung  the  greatly  improved 
forms,  and  almost  every  shade  of  colour  known  in  the  Chrys¬ 
anthemum  to-day.  One  of  the  reasons  that  this  flower  is 
coming  to  the  front  .so  fast  is  that  it  is  of  the  ea.siest  possible 
culture;  in  fact,  it  might  be  justly  said  that  it  needs  no  special 
culture  whatever.  All  that  is  neces-sai'y  is  to  take  a  j'oung 
healthy  plant  from  a  2in  pot  in  May,  plant  it  out  in  any  po.si- 
tion  in  the  garden,  not  directly  under  the  shade  of  trees;  if  ) 
the  weather  is  dry  give  it  one  or  two  good  waterings.  Kec-p 
the.  weeds  clear  of  it  till  it  gets  a  fair  start.  After  that  it  will 
outgrow  almost  every  kind  of  weed.  Then  about  all  the  atten¬ 
tion  it  will  require  will  be  in  September,  after  the  buds  are 
set  and  the  top  becomes  heavy  thereby.  A  little  support,  by 
putting  three  or  four  short  stakes  in  around  the  plant,  and 
tying  a  piece  of  stout  string  all  around  it  to  prevent  its  being 
broken  by  strong  winds,  heavy  rains,  Ac.,  will  be  necessarA’. 
With  the  above  treatment  a  great  .show  of  floAvers  can  be  had 
at  very  little  co.st. 
The  varieties  of  Pompons  are  now  .so  many  and  so  varied 
in  their  general  size,  colour,  and  form  that  to  enumerate  them 
w’ould  be  superfluous.  Take  the  earliest  for  the  open  air  culture, 
and  whatever  colour  strike.s  your  fancy  for  the  pot  culture ; 
they  are  all  exceedingly  attractive  and  beautiful,  and  Avill  well 
repay  anyone  for  the  littlei  time  and  attention  required  to 
produce  them  in  abundance. — J.  N.  M. 
Cyclamens  at  the  Manor  House,  Kineton. 
These  free-flowering  plants  have  greatly  increased  in 
popularity  during  the  last  ten  years.  There  are,  perhaps, 
two  reasons  for  this  ;  one  is  that  seeds  of  exceedingly  fine 
strains  can  now  be  obtained  wdth  certainty  from  firms  of 
repute,  the  other  that  Cyclamen  culture  is  becoming  each 
year  better  understood  by  gardeners  generally. 
Mr.  H.  Musto,  gardener  to  J.  T.  Pelham,  Esq.,  seems 
to  have  thoroughly  mastered  the  art  of  growing  Cyclamens 
to  perfection.  I  have  had  the  opportunity  of  inspecting 
the  plants  grown  by  him  in  the  above  gardens  during  the 
last  few  years,  and  in  vigour,  habit,  and  floriferousness  I 
have  seldom,  if  ever,  seen  them  surpassed.  A  few  remarks 
as  to  the  treatment  they  receive  will  therefore,  I  think,  be 
of  interest  to  readers  of  the  Journal  of  Horticulture.  Mr. 
Musto  relies  principally  on  young  plants,  but  he  does  not, 
like  some  growers,  despise  good  corms  rvhich  have  flow  ered 
one  year,  as  he  finds  that  with  good  attention  they  makei 
splendid  plants  the  second  season,  and  by  flowering  later 
than  younger  seedlings  prolong  the  blooming  period. 
Seed  is  sown  each  year  during  September  or  early  m 
October,  in  a  house  having  an  intermediate  temperature. 
The  young  seedlings  are  kept  quite  close  to  the  glass,  are 
pricked  out  when  large  enough  to  handle  into  well-drained 
pans,  and  when  well  established  in  these,  are  potted 
into  2^in  or  3in  pots,  according  to  their  size.  They  are 
kept  in  an  intermediate  temperature  throughout  the  winter 
and  early  spring,  and  in  May  are  placed  in  cold  pits,  where 
they  remain  throughout  the  summer.  During  the  early 
part  of  the  summer  the  frames  are  closed  early  in  the  after¬ 
noon,  wdth  plenty  of  moisture,  air  being  again  admitted 
at  night.  When  August  comes  round,  by  which  time  the 
plants  are  fully  established  in  their  flow’ering  pots,  the  pits 
are  never  at  any  time  closed  entirely,  and  the  lights  are 
often  drawn  off  at  night,  as  Mr.  Musto  is  a  great  believer 
in  the  invigorating  influence  of  the  night  dews,  and  in  their 
tendency  to  promote  a  sturdy  habit  in  the  growth  of  the 
plants. 
About  the  end  of  September  the  plants  are  placed  near 
the  glass  in  a  light  span-roofed  house,  where  they  receive 
no  'fire  heat  for  a  time,  but  as  soon  as  cold  weather  sets 
in,  a  little  artificial  heat  is  given  regularly,  to  maintain 
a  temperature  ranging  from  50deg  to  60deg.  The  plants 
are  flowered  in  5in  and  Gin  pots  the  first  year,  and  are 
usually  shifted  from  the  3in  to  the  4in  pot  and  thence  to  the 
5in  or  Gin  one. 
In  the  early  stages  the  compost  employed  is  formed  of 
good  mellow  fibrous  loam  and  leaf  soil  in  equal  parts,  with 
a  liberal  addition  of  sharp  sand.  At  the  final  potting  the 
proportions  are  loam  three  parts,  leaf  soil  half  a  part,  and 
old  hotbed  manure  half  a  part,  a  little  bonemeal  and  sharp 
sand  being  added.  Weak  solutions  of  soot  water  and  an 
occasional  application  of  chemica  1  manures  are  given 
throughout  the  flowering  season. 
-  When  the  plants  have  done  flowering,  many  of  them  are 
consigned  to  the  rubbish  heap,  but  the  most  promising 
looking  corms  are  reserved  for  another  season.  These  have 
a  little  less  water  than  usual  for  a  few^  w'eeks,  but  are  never 
dried  off  entirely.  When  they  start  into  growTh  they  are 
repotted,  and  grown  in  frames  during  the  summer. 
.  I  have  much  pleasure  in  giving  the  above  particulars  of 
Mr.  Musto’s  treatment,  because  I  think  they  Avill  be  help¬ 
ful  to  many  who  have  not  hitherto  been  particulai’ly  suc¬ 
cessful  in  the  culture  of  these  grand  winter  and  spring 
flowering  plants. — Warwick. 
