October  25.  1900. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
381 
Forthcoming  Shows. 
As  is  usual  at  this  time  of  the  year  we  have  received  numerous 
intimations  of  Cbrysanthemum  shows  which  are  to  be  held  during 
the  coming  season.  Space,  however,  can  only  be  found  for  mentioning 
those  that  have  been  advertised  in  our  columns.  We  append  the 
ilates  of  such  fixtures,  with  the  names  and  addresses  of  the  respective 
M  cretaries : — 
Oct.  30,  31. — Ceoydon. — W.  B.  Beckett,  272,  Portland  Road,  South 
Norwood. 
,,  31. — Penakth. — Hy.  A.  Allen,  3,  Kymin  Terrace,  Penarth. 
Nov.  1,  2. — Blackheath. — F.  Fox,  The  Gardens,  The  Cedars,  Lee,  S.E. 
„  2,  3. — Battersea. — J.O.Langrish,  167,  ElsleyRd.,  Battersea,  S.W. 
,,  6,  7. — Bikmingham. — J.  BEughes,  140,  High  Street,  Harborne, 
Birmingham ;  F.  W.  Simpson,  Corn  Mills,  Sixways, 
Aston,  Birmingham. 
,,  6,  7. — Brighton. — J.  Thorpe,  53,  Ship  Street,  Brighton. 
,,  6,  7. — Coventry. — J.  Cooper,  31,  Foleshill  Road. 
,,  6,  7. — Hanley. — W.  J.  Salmon,  24,  Newcastle  Road,  Shelton, 
Stoke-on-Trent. 
,,  6,  7. — Kingston. — W.  Hayward,  Kingston-on-Thames. 
,,  6,  7. — Southampton. — C.  S.  Fuidge,  6,  College  Terrace,  London 
Road,  Southampton. 
„  6,  7. — West  of  England. — Charles  Wilson,  North  Hill,  Plymouth. 
„  6,7,8. — National  Chrysanthemum  Society. — R.  Dean,  V.M.H., 
Ealing,  London,  W. 
„  7,  8.  —  Bournemouth.  —  James  Spong,  Lindisfarne  Gardens, 
Bournemouth. 
,,  7,  8. — Cardiff. — H.  Gillett,  66,  Woodville  Road,  Cardiff. 
,,  8. — Launceston. — Edward  Leamon,  St.  Stephens,  Launceston. 
,,  8. — Windsor. — Herbert  Finch,  Bank  House,  Eton. 
„  9, 10. — Altrincham. — W.  Hazlehurst,  40,  Railway  St., Altrincham. 
,,  9,  10. — Eccles. — J.  H.  Bryan,  134,  New  Lane,  Peel  Green, 
Patricroft. 
,,  9,  10. — Sheffield. — Wm.  Honsley,  28,  Joshua  Road,  Sheffield. 
,,  13,  14. — Belfast. — J.  Macbride,  Victoria  Square,  Belfast. 
,,  13,  14. — Leeds. — W.  Smith,  The  Gardens,  Weetwood  Hall,  Leeds. 
„  14,  15. — Hull. — Edward  Harland,  Manor  Street,  Hull ;  Jas.  Dixon, 
F.R.H.S.,  2,  County  Buildings,  Hull. 
„  14,  15,  16. — York. — G.  F.  W.  Oman,  38,  Petergate,  York. 
,,  15,  16. — Parkstone. — T.  K.  Ingram,  Parkstone  Nmseries,  Dorset. 
„  16,  17. — Bolton. — Jas.  Hicks,  1,  Beckett  Street,  Bolton. 
„  16,  17. — Bradford. — R.  Eichel,  Eldwick,  Bingley. 
„  16,  17. — Huddersfield. — John  Bell,  Marsh,  Huddersfield. 
„  16,  17. — Macclesfield. — W.  Oldham,  153,  Great  King  Street, 
Macclesfield. 
„  21,  22. — Birkenhead. — W.  H.  Yeo,  3,  Clarendon  Street,  Birken¬ 
head. 
Early  Flowering  CbrysantbemTuui. 
On  Monday,  October  15th,  Mr.  R.  Wilson,  gardener  to  Alderman 
John  Blackburn,  Batley,  gave  a  lecture  on  the  above  subject  to  a  good 
attendance  of  members  of  the  Birstall  and  District  Chrysanthemum 
and  Paxton  Society.  The  lecturer  commenced  by  saying  that  the 
antiquity  of  the  Chrysanthemum  as  a  florist’s  flower  could  scarcely 
be  properly  estimated,  as  it  had  been  cultivated  in  China  and  Japan 
since  the  earliest  times.  It  was  generally  understood  to  have  been 
brought  to  Europe  about  the  year  1688.  The  first  varieties  of  the 
early  flowering  Chrysanthemums  became  known  in  1850.  It  was 
interesting  to  record  the  fact  that  both  amateur  and  professional 
gardeners  were  beginning  to  see  the  conspicuous  part  the  early 
flowering  Chrysanthemum  was  likely  to  take  in  the  future.  The 
lecturer  gave  several  reasons  why  early  Chrysanthemums  should  be 
well  grown,  and  one  of  the  chief  points  in  their  favour  was  that  a 
novice  could  with  ease  grow  a  plant  that  would  surprise  anybody. 
Varieties  in  almost  every  shade  of  colour  could  be  bad  in  perfection  in 
August,  September,  and  October,  and  even  through  November,  and 
the  plants  were  so  hard  as  to  stand  several  degrees  of  frost,  and 
remain  gay  when  Dahlias  and  other  outdoor  plants  were  blackened. 
He  dwelt  on  the  character  of  the  plants,  mentioned  a  number  of 
varieties,  and  concluded  by  giving  his  hearers  instructions  as  to  how 
to  grow  the  plant  and  bring  it  up  to  perfection.  A  good  discussion 
followed,  and  the  lecturer,  replying,  said  he  did  not  feed  his  plants 
with  anything,  and  that  he  preferred  boxes  to  pots  to  root  the  cuttings. 
Mr.  Wilson  brought  with  him  specimens  of  forty  varieties,  three  only 
of  which  had  been  grown  indoors.  He  was  heartily  thanked  at  the 
close. 
Show  Chrysanthemums  In  October. 
As  a  visitor  at  the  recent  show  at  the  Aquarium  I  certainly  con¬ 
cluded  that  such  an  exhibition  does  very  little  good  to  the  favourite 
autumn  flower.  Being  on  the  look  out  for  early  varieties  of  real 
merit,  one  could  only  find  the  well-known  November  varieties  staged 
m  bad  form.  There  was  a  want  of  colour  most  noticeable ;  whites 
and  yellows  and  faded-looking  pink  shades  were  the  most  prominent 
ones,  and  the  blooms  of  these,  with  very  few  exceptions,  would  have 
been  better  if  left  on  the  plants  a  couple  of  weeks  longer. 
The  most  striking  flower  was  one  of  Sir  H.  Kitchener,  a  bronzy 
yellow  of  attractive  shape  and  proportions.  Mrs.  Coombes  was  repre¬ 
sented  by  some  excellent  blossoms,  which  wanted  a  few  more  days’ 
growth  to  properly  finish  them.  One  capital  flower  of  Miss 
E.  Pilkington,  a  variety  not  unlike  the  old  Boule  d’Or,  a  fair  one  of 
Oceana,  and  the  list  of  specimens  up  to  exhibition  standard  may  be 
said  to  be  exhausted.  A  glance  at  the  names  of  the  winning  blooms  in 
the  accounts  of  this  show  will  give  the  reader  who  could  not  attend 
some  idea  of  the  indifferent  ones. 
At  previous  exhibitions  held  in  October  good  flowers  of  varieties 
like  E.  Molyneux,  Mdlle.  Th^rese  Rey,  Phoebus,  Edith  Tabor,  Mutual 
Friend,  Mdlle.  Lacroix,  G.  C.  Schwabe,  among  others,  have  been  seen, 
but  probably  in  the  race  for  novelty  such  fine  sorts  are  forgotten. 
The  object  of  an  early  show  is  to  encourage  those  that  are  generally 
past  their  best  at  the  time  of  the  November  gatherings,  yet  this  last 
one  at  least  did  nothing  of  the  kind. 
The  September  show  of  the  National  Chrysanthemum  Society  was 
discontinued  because  the  want  of  it  was  not  felt,  and  it  would  do  little 
harm  if  the  October  one  shared  the  same  fate.  And  especially  does 
it  seem  out  of  place  this  year  when  Dahlias  are  still  in  bloom,  giving 
a  range  of  colour  that  makes  Chrysanthemums  look  dull.  The 
c'asses  again  attract  little  competition,  and  were  it  not  for  the  trade 
displays  there  would  not  be  enough  of  Chrysanthemums  to  make  a 
decent  show.  We  associate  November  with  big  Chrysanthemums, 
and  this  is  their  month  ;  and  anything  appearing  at  other  seasons  seem 
lar  from  perlect — I  mean  as  show  flowers. 
A  good  decorative  variety  is  Ettie  Mitchell.  This  bronzy  coloured 
sort  was  seen  in  capital  condition,  the  bank  of  it  in  bushy  plants  being 
1  ot  the  least  attractive  exhibit.  A  canary  yellow  sport  from  Lady 
Fitzwygram  named  Mrs.  Jas.  Williams  is  also  useful  from  the 
point  of  an  early  cut  flower  sort.  As  a  member  of  the  National 
Chrysanthemum  Society  it  does  not  seem  to  me  wise  to  waste  any  of 
us  resources  on  these  side  exhibitions  ;  I  would  have  one  great  display 
in  the  month  of  Chrysanthemums,  which  never  fails  to  attract,  and 
there  is  always  plenty  then  in  the  way  of  fine  blooms  to  prevent  a 
grumble  from — A  Country  Visitor. 
In  the  London  Parks. 
For  several  seasons  the  Parks  Committee  of  the  London  County 
Council  has  been  providing  annual  displays  of  Chrysanthemums  at 
certain  places,  and  these  have  grown  in  popularity  year  by  year.  It 
can  scarcely  be  doubted  that  they  have  done  an  immense  amount  of 
^ood  in  popularising  the  autumn  queen,  as  they  have  proved  to 
demonstration  that  admirable  flowers  can  be  produced  in  the 
metropolis.  The  knowledge  of  this  fact  has  induced  men  who  had 
not  hitherto  ventured  on  their  cultivation  to  experiment  with  a  few 
plants,  and  with  such  success  that  they  have  become  necessary 
adjuncts  to  the  garden.  This  has  occurred  in  all  quarters  of  London, 
and  it  can  therefore  be  said  in  all  truth  that  the  London  County 
Council  did  a  most  commendable  work  in  inaugurating  these  annual 
exhibitions.  I  make  a  point  of  seeing  all  of  them  every  year,  and  so 
ftr  I  have  visited  Victoria  Park;  and  a  few  remarks  may  be  accept¬ 
able  to  readers  of  the  Journal  of  Eorticulture, 
Victoria  Park. 
One  of  the  most  representative  collections  of  Chrysanthemums  is 
grown  at  this  great  park  by  Mr.  J.  W.  Moorman,  whose  knowledge  of 
the  vagaries  of  the  Eastern  flower  is  remarkable.  It  is  a  matter  for 
regret  that  here,  as  well  as  in  other  of  the  leading  parks,  no  fitting 
structure  can  be  found  in  which  the  plants,  after  having  been  grown 
to  as  high  a  degree  of  excellence  as  can  be  looked  for  in  London,  can 
be  displayed  to  the  best  possible  advantage.  I  am  certainly  of  the 
