THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



Of these, those that are late in blossoming offer a special 

 interest. Among the plants of this class which the public justly 

 regards with the highest favor are the chrysanthemums. Few 

 plants combine so many desirable qualities as they ; abundance 

 of blossom, richness in coloring, elegance of form, and long dura- 

 tion, are some of their leading qualities. 



The plant has been known from very ancient times, and the 

 beginning of its cultivation among us dates from several hun- 

 dred years back ; but it was for a long time neglected, and only 

 a few varieties were known, whose small, imperfectly shaped 

 flowers gave no indication of what could be made of them if 

 special attention were given them. Now the varieties are counted 

 by hundreds. Some have been directly imported from China 

 and Japan, but the most of them are of French or English ori- 

 gin. Intelligent sowing and careful selections have given unan- 

 ticipated results ; and several types have been developed which 

 are quite distinct in the form and arrangement of their flower- 

 rays. 



The flowers are originally of a similar disposition to those of 

 the field daisies. By cultivation they have been made double 

 that is, all the minute flowers in the center have .been endowed 

 with large corollas like those constituting the white border of the 

 daisy. Then the form of the corolla has varied so as to appear 

 under very distinct types. Sometimes the petals curve upon 

 themselves, so as to form a regular large head, as in what are 

 called the Indian chrysanthemums. Others curve outward and 

 give a more open form to the whole, as in the Chinese chrysan- 

 themums. In others, again, the corollas deviate in every direc- 

 tion, constituting an odd, irregular type, but marked with a spe- 

 cial artistic elegance, as in the Japanese chrysanthemums. 



Chrysanthemums were formerly regarded as garden plants; 

 they are equally house plants. There are few plants so well 

 adapted to the ornamentation of our dwellings, whether they are 

 treated as cut flowers or pot plants. For bouquets, only the orchis 

 can rival them in lasting qualities. If cut in full bloom and 

 kept in water, they will last two or three weeks ; but the water 

 should be renewed often, and kept pure with charcoal. Bouquets 

 of exceeding elegance can be made of chrysanthemums. The 

 flowers should be cut with as long stems as possible, and placed, 

 after stripping the leaves from the lower ends, in a wide-mouthed 

 vase (Fig. 1). The bouquet then has the appearance of a sheaf in 

 which each flower displays its full beauty, and, by contrast of 

 color and form, heightens the effect of its neighbor. A special 

 business is made of growing flowers for these bouquets. In this 

 cultivation all the flowers except the terminal one are suppressed 

 on every branch, whereby the flower that is left reaches a large 



