THE PROBLEM OF THE COLLAR

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 19512, 10 June 1933, Page 11

THE PROBLEM OF THE COLLAR

SCARF NOT SUFFICIENT. The treatment of the neck-area by the strategic experts of the sartorial •map it at this time singularly intricate and studied. It is no longer enough 'to wear a scarf; the scarf must be actually the collar, or vice versa. So I many women couldn’t tie scarves properly—the perky fox terrier ear lay down like a spaniel’s, the loose knot intended to decorate the left lung worked round till it looked remarkably like the noose from which one would presently hang. So now the collary-scarfy stuff is to be part of the dress itself. In some cases the decorative effect has, as it were, like a dangerous but ornamental ; rash, struck inward. The dress meets i round the neck and then slits open, i with an oval or diamond effect, suffij ciently ample to show whether we have i or have not been exposing our chests ! to the rays of the sun. j In other examples the revers of the coat or dress resolves themselves without seam into a small stand-up collar—j a miniature of Sarah Bernhardt’s in TTiglon.’ But the seamlessness is | what counts. And sometimes this tailored effect becomes a soft scarf, just I as things change in a dream, without | one’s knowing why or how.

But mostly the collar is of exterior application. It is anything from a demure little bit of stuff with a wee flat bow in front, a Puritan-maiden collar (as worn in revue, of course, it is much too becoming for any real life Puritan to tolerate), to what amounts to a tailored top to the dress—a wellshaped little cape, with a flare caught in round the arms to suggest sleeves.

They will quickly root in a closed frame and after being potted separately into small pots should be hardened off gradually and planted out of doors. Instead of taking cuttings a quicker method is to lift the plants, shake most of the soil off the roots, and sever the shoots as low down as possible to secure a few roots on each one. These, if potted separately in 3in pots and kept under a handlight for a week or two, will make sturdy plants for planting out in April. The chrysanthemum bed or border should be in a sunny, well-drained position. Rich soil causes sappy growth; if the ground is impoverished work in a little well-decayed manure. Wood ashes are excellent for digging in. Superphosphate of lime is the best chemical manure to dig in at planting time.

Put in the plants firmly about 2ft apart and water them in if the soil is dry. When the flower buds are swelling give liquid manure. Insert the stakes early and loop up the shoots as they develop, for if they are allowed to fall about and become crooked they can never be straightened.

To display all colours to the best advantage the plants should be arranged in groups of five, seven, nine, or twelve, according to the size of the border. Autumn Gold, bright yellow; Pluie d’Or, and Crimson Fourex are Julyblooming varieties. William Ritchie primrose; Rabbie Burne, cerise; Polly, orange; Phoenix, bronze-red; King Cup yellow; Improved Masse, rose-lilac; Hotspur, terracotta; Golden Glow, yellow; Dick Barnes, crimson; Crimson Polly;; and Abercorn Beauty, bronze, flower in August.

Varieties which bloom in September are Red Almirante; "Belle Mauve, silverpink; Border Beauty, amber and orange; Brightness, crimson-scarlet; Bronze Early Buttercup; Berengaria, rose-pink; ;Crimson Circle, red-crim-son; Debutante, white; Glow, crimson, gold points; Hotspur, terracotta; Hubert, salmon-pink; Jack Robbins, amber self; Le Pactole, bronze and yellow; Mrs. Jack Pearson, bronze-red; Normandie, flesh pink; R. A. Roots, white; Salmon Queen and Shirley Pride, pink. For October there are Sanctity, white; Tangerine, orange-yellow; Wembley, crimson, tinged ruby; Cranford Supreme, yellow incruved; Cranford Red, chestnut-crimson; J. Bannister, lawn; Minstrel, deep crimson; Purple Flag, crimson-purple; Warrior, red; and White Buttercup.