Chrysanthemums. 347 



In the first group were eight plants of three varieties ( Viokscenf, Rosy 

 Imperatrice and Sibyl Kaye)^ which did not attain their typical color 

 under any of the four kinds of treatment, but had shown enough color 

 (although short-lived in the last two varieties) in 1896. 



In the second group were 13 plants of five varieties [Gov. Mattheivs, 

 Miss A. L. Dalskov^ Mrs. W. C. £gan, Mrs. Harry Toler and Bellcm) 

 which, like the first group, did not attain their typical color under any 

 treatment, but, unlike the first group, they had not attained their 

 typical color in 1896. In both groups the second year's trial resulted 

 in no gain. In these particular cases the home grown stock did not, 

 of itself, ^\N^ enough advantage to make the flowers well-colored, but 

 these results must not be taken as contradicting the established prin- 

 ciple that home-grown stock, if carefully selected, gives better results 

 than newly purchased stock that has not been carefully selected. 



In the third group were 14 plants of two varieties {^Lenawee and 

 Our Mutual Friejid) that are not normally pink, but white. In Le?ia- 

 wee I had never seen any pink color, but in Our Mutual Friend I had 

 noticed, in 1896, some flowers that showed almost enough pink to 

 make them unsalable as white flowers. These plants had been highly 

 fed, and under the same conditions the normally pink varieties had 

 been very highly colored. This treatment, I believe, was very liberal 

 with nitrogen. Nitrate of soda, says one chrysanthemum specialist, 

 deepens the color of certain pink varieties. If one kind of treatment 

 deepens the color of pink flowers, may it not force some pink color 

 into white ones ? This query explains why two normally white vari- 

 eties were included in these experiments with pink varieties. In 

 these experiments Lenawee and Our Afutual Friend showed no color 

 at all. 



It should also be said that Beilem and Marie Valleau are sometimes 

 described as chiefly or entirely white, and sometimes as chiefly or 

 entirely pink. I have not excluded Marie Valleau from the list of 

 varieties that were strictly comparable, as the flowers of it grown in 

 the sunlight would have sold as pink flowers and not as white ones. 



Next to the pink series of colors, the bronzes seem to be most 

 sensitive, and next comes the dark colors, especially the darker reds. 

 All the bronzes I have seen are blendings of red and yellow, and the 

 two elements are often easily separable. Thus Charles Davis^ one of 

 the leading commercial sorts, is recorded in the magazines in every 



