422 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AXD  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
November  6,  1902. 
Ryecroft  Nursery,  Lewisham. 
At  this  nursery  Mr.  H.  J.  Jones  has  an  excellent  stock  of 
plants  this  season,  better  than  he  lias  had  for  years.  The  flowers 
most  in  evidence,  and  which  impressed  themselves  most  favour- 
ably,  uere  George  Lawrence  and  Mrs.  Harry  Emmerton.  As 
seen  at  Ryecroft,  these  are  perfect.  W  itliout  describing  them 
at  this  point,  I  should  like  to  dot  down  a  few  other  names  of 
novelties  each  of  them  especially  good,  as  follows:  Miss  Elsie 
r  niton,  which  name  is  on  everybody’s  lips  in  the  Chrysanthemum 
world  and  yet  it  is  only— but  there.  Then  General  Buller  (the 
flower)  is  as  bronzy  as  the  battle-warrior;  W.  R.  Church  is  good 
everywhere  this  season ;  Madame  Pao'la  RadaeUi  is  a  mass  of 
beautiful  pink  and  white,  the  petals  broad;  O.  V.  Douglas  the 
“  butter-and-eggs  ”  mixture,  will  take  on  because  of  its’ soft 
yellow  colour  and  size ;  Matthew  Smith  is  intensely  rich  in  hue  • 
Nellie  Bean— a  new  edition  of  the  charming  Emily  Towers’ 
Bessie  Godfrey,  which,  with  Sensation,  were  perhaps  the  best 
of  the  Exmouth  novelties  last  year,  are  A1  at  Lewisham  ;  while 
no  one  can  pass  by  Mrs.  Greenfield,  the  finest  thing  in  deep 
yellows,  or  Mrs.  Alex.  McKinley,  which  lias  already  drawn  forth 
praises  in  other  quarters.  To  conclude  with,  in  this  select  list 
must  be  named  the  gigantic  Ben  Wells,  the  superb  Lily  Mount- 
ford,  the  beautiful  yellow  Earl  of  Arran,  and,  lastly,  Master  C. 
Seymour,  all  of  which  well  deserve  a  prominent  place  in 
collections. 
From  what  I  have  seen  of  the  shows  thus  early,  there  are 
many  exhibitors  who  do  not  fortify  themselves  with  the  year’s 
novelties,  as  evidenced  by  the  stands  staged  by  them,  and  much 
of  the  charm  of  attending  the  show's  is  thus  lost  to  those  who, 
iiko  myself,  follow  tho  careers  of  the  new  varieties  from  y^ar 
anc*  ^11(^  a  charm  in  observing  their  behaviour  under 
the  different  meteorological  conditions  peculiar  to  each  season. 
General  Buller  is  a  handsome  bronzy  amber,  but  rather  apt 
to  damp,  if  'one  may  judge  from  Mr.  Jones’  plants.  It  is  one  of 
the  largest  of  the  incurving  Japs.  Miss  Elsie  Fulton,  lately 
certificated,  is  certainly  a  beautiful  and  somewhat  incurving 
Japanese,  of  snowy  whiteness,  but  it  is  very  much  like  two 
others  that  might  be  named.  Mrs.  J.  C.  Neville  is  another  large 
white.  Mrs.  Harry  Emmerton  (Brunning)  has  proved  to  be  a 
large  flower,  with  smooth,  drooping,  fiat  florets,  of  a  deep  canary 
yellowy.  Henry  Stowe  furnishes  a  pure  mauve-pink  flower,  after 
the  \  iviand  Morel  type ;  Geo.  Lawrence,  already  noted,  is 
spoken  of  as  an  amateur’s  flower,  coming  w7ell  on  any  bud,  but 
cfowns  preferably.  It  is  certainly  one  of  the  largest  and  finest 
Chrysanthemums  of  this  season,  and  was  raised  by  Mr.  Perkins, 
whose  foreman’s  name  it  bears.  The  florets  are  broad  and 
smooth,  bronzy-buff  above  and  red  inside. 
Nellie  Bean  is  also  a  large  bloom,  which,  the  earlier  one  gets  it, 
the  paler  in  colour  it  is,  but  shades  off  with  age  to  Emily  Towers 
colour.  It  is  a  very  fine  novelty.  Bessie  Godfrey  is  producing 
massive  flowers  on  quite  small  plants,  in  6in  pots.  Decidedly 
is  it  one  of  Mr.  Godfrey’s  best,  and  at  Ryecroft  it  is  held  in  high 
esteem,  where  they  describe  it  as  “  an  improved  Von  Andre.” 
The  centre  is  of  a  much  deeper  yellow  than  the  pale  sulphury 
tips  seen  in  a  fully  developed  flower.  One  must  always  find  a 
line  of  praise  for  the  peerless  Miss  Alice  Byron,  whose  huge 
blooms  on  single-stemmed  plants,  only  2ft  high,  and  in  5in  and 
bin  pots,  were  really  a  sight  to  marvel  at.  In  passing,  one  may 
note  a  representative  of  Mr.  Jones’  Giant  Incurved  section, 
namely,  W.  Neville,  which  resembles  the  Baron  Hirsch  variety 
m  colour.  The  flower  is  very  regular,  large,  firm,  and  weil 
coloured.  H.  E.  Hayman  resembles  Sensation — intense  yellow 
with  crimson  flushing.  Another  easy  doer  and  good  sort  is 
found  in  C.  Penford,  an  improvement  on  Mrs.  J.  W.  Barks, 
which  it  far  and  away  excels  in  colour.  It  comes  well  on  any 
bud.  J 
Earl  of  Arran  deserves  more  than  the  passing  notice  already 
accorded.  It  is  excellent  after  this  damp  season,  just  as  it 
was  a  year  ago  when  the  weather  conditions  were  different. 
The  flowers  are  large,  canary  yellow7  in  colour,  and  are  slightly 
incurving.  Then  there  are  all  the  Exmouth  seedlings  here,  to 
wit,  Godfrey’s  Masterpiece,  Queen  Alexandra,  Godfrey’s  Pride 
(well  spoken  of),  Godfrey’s  King,  and  Godfrey’s  Triumph,  but 
many  of  the  plants  have  failed  to  produce  flowers  of  the 
requisite  size.  The  foregoing  notes  mention  only  a  very  few  of 
the  many  choice  varieties  at  Ryecroft,  but  growers  find" it  quite 
enough  to  keep  up  with  all  the  new7  comers.  Mr.  Jones  has 
some  excellent  new  representatives  to  offer  during  the  coming 
season,  including  Miss  Mildred  Ware.  H.  Perkins,  and  Miss 
Edith  Smith. — Viator. 
Manipulating  the  Petals. 
I  have  been  prompted  to  write  a  few  lines  upon  the  subject 
of  manipulating  the  petals  of  Chrysanthemums,  especially  the 
Japanese  varieties,  by  a  letter  recently  received  from  a  promi¬ 
nent'  exhibitor,  w7ho  asks  if  I  agree  with  the  reflexing  of  the 
blooms  of  Japanese  varieties?  He  goes  on  to  say:  — 
“  I  know  some  kinds  are  improved  in  appearance  by  having 
their  petals  turned,  and  yet,  on  the  other  hand,  a  good  many 
blooms  were  shown  last  November  entirely  out  of  character.” 
For  the  last  few  seasons  I  have  heard  many  comments  made 
at  shows  by  visitors  and  exhibitors,  some  for  and  others  against 
the  practice.  As  the  subject  opens  up  a  moot  point,  I  thought 
it  might  be  of  interest  at  this  season  to  those  interested  in 
exhibition  Chrysanthemums.  At  the  outset  I  would  say  I  am 
a  believer  in  an  exhibitor  making  the  most  of  his  blooms  by 
all  lawful  means  at  his  disposal.  For  instance,  a  variety  like 
Pride  of  Madford,  for  example,  which  has  at  times  a  tendency 
to  display  florets  of  an  incurved  nature  might  be  made  all  the 
better  in  appearance  if  such  florets  were  reflexed,  displaying  that 
rich  amaranth  colouring  that  this  variety  possesses  on  the  upper 
surface  of  its  florets.  I  am  fully  alive  to  the  fact  that  such  ah 
expression  of  opinion  will  not  meet  with  universal  approval, 
especially  from  non-exhibitors,  who  do  not  always  realise  the 
various  points  of  advantage  gained  by  displaying  every  bloom  to 
its  fullest  extent. 
My  argument  in  favour  of  such  a  proposal  is,  I  think,  a  strong 
one.  Is  there  any  authority  who  will  say  definitely  which 
varieties  belong  strictly  to  the  reflexed  and  incurved  Japanese 
section  ?  He,  indeed,  would  be  a  bold  man  who  would  say  so. 
Even  in  the  case  of  the  variety  quoted,  and  which,  I  believe, 
receives  more  manipulation  of  its  florets  than  any  other,  is  not 
definitely  described  by  the  central  authority — the  N.C.S. — in 
their  classification  catalogue.  Quoting  from  the  published 
description,  I  find  it  reads  thus:  “Large  bloom,  outer  petals 
recurving,  centre  incurving.”  No  one  will  say  there  is  any 
finality  in  this,  and,  therefore,  little  argument  against  the 
practice  of  manipulating  the  florets  to  obtain  the  finest  display 
of  colour.  Mrs.  Barkley  is  another  popular  variety  which  is 
subject  to  much  comment,  as  wrell  as  manipulation  of  its  florets. 
In  producing  Japanese  blooms  of  the  finest  quality  it  is  sur¬ 
prising  what  culture  does  towards  the  display.  With  some  ex¬ 
hibitors,  and  in  particular  localities,  blooms  of  both  varieties 
named  will  be  produced  in  a  natural  manner,  with  not  a  single 
petal  betraying  a  tendency  to  incurve,  but  all  displaying  the 
rich  amaranth  of  the  one  variety  and  the  intense  rosy  pink  of 
the  other.  In  Edinburgh  the  exception  is  to  see  a  bloom  of 
Mrs.  Barkley  with  incurving  florets  ;  naturally,  the  blooms  are 
built  up  with  florets  of  a  reflexed  character.  Presuming,  then, 
that  Mrs.  Barkley  and  Pride  of  Madford  are  said  to  belong  to 
the  incurving  Japanese  section,  would  it  be  fair  to  judge  such 
blooms  as  are  naturally  produced  in  a  reflexed  manner  at  a  low 
standard  because  they  do  not  conform  to  the  ideal  of  some  few 
persons  ? 
A  grave  injustice  would  presumably  be  done  to  such  an 
exhibitor.  Those  who  are  conversant  with  the  culture  of  Japa¬ 
nese  Chrysanthemums  know  quite  well  that  it  is  purely  a 
question  of  bud  selection  whether  the  blooms  will  be  of  the 
desired  form  or  not.  I  do  not  agree,  though,  with  clumsy  mani¬ 
pulation  of  the  florets.  If  a  bloom  is  to  be  presented  in  an 
improved  form  by  reflexing  artificially  its  florets  here  and  there 
an  obstinate  petal,  surely  an  improvement  is  effected.  Must  a 
bunch  of  Grapes  be  staged  with  here  and  there  a  small  berry 
being  exposed  because  they  grew  naturally?  What  is  right  in 
one  exhibit  cannot  be  wrong  in  another.  What  is  your  remedy, 
then,  for  clumsiness  ?  I  hear  someone  ask.  A  loss  of  points,  of 
course,  must  follow. 
In  conclusion,  I  would  say  an  exhibitor  is  justified  in  pre¬ 
senting  bis  blooms  in  the  best  possible  manner,  providing  it  is 
lawfully  done.  There  cannot  be  such  a  thing  as  disobeying  a  rule 
which  has  no  definition. 
In  the  case  of  incurved  blooms,  it  is  more  often  a  question 
of  incurving  them  than  the  opposite.  In  this  section  culture  is 
wholly  responsible  for  such  defects  as  reflexing  florets.  Here  we 
have  a  definite  aim  and  an  ideal.  Manipulation  is  more  in  the 
way  of  arranging  the  florets  than  of  converting  them  ;  more 
often  they  require  thinning  than  anything  else.  Those  who 
hope  to  win  prizes  with  incurved  Chrysanthemums  must  mani¬ 
pulate  the  florets  in  some  form  or  other. — E.  Molyneux. 
Treatment  of  Chrysanthemum  Henry  Barnes. 
This  is  perhaps  the  tallest  or  most  lanky-growing  Japanese 
Chrysanthemum  at  present  in  cultivation.  A  good  method  to 
follow  is  that  adopted  this  year  by  Mr.  Wells  at  Earlswood, 
whose  plants  have  been  pegged  down  and  trained  horizontally. 
Only  about  1ft  at  the  apex  is  allowed  to  grow  vertically,  and 
the  flower  opens  splendidly,  while  the  plant  takes  up  but  little 
useful  space,  being  placed  at  the  back  part  of  a  stage  close 
under  the  sloping  roof  of  the  house. — J. 
