Chrysanthemums of 1896. 313 



on the promising list. It seems hard to put Edwin A . Kimball 

 on a probation list, for it was perfect of its kind with us last year, 

 but the competition is too keen, the popularity of its type limited, 

 and there is always the possibility of a second year's cultivation 

 reversing one's judgment. So far as we know, it is the best 

 American variety of the type of which Mrs. C H. Wheeler was 

 a famous early representative, — the high-built, almost conical form 

 with heavy, incurved rays, offering frequent suggestions of dark 

 red, while the old-gold of the reverse is the chief feature in the 

 general effect. {^^ The Golden Flower, Chrysanthemum,^^ Mr. 

 Mathews's beautiful art-work has a colored picture oi Mrs. C. H. 

 Wheeler. That variety appears to be not double enough to suit 

 the florists.) Four English varieties of the same sort have been 

 gathering strength for a fair race with Edwin A. Kimball this 

 year, and only one can win. 



Two green-flowered plants had little to commend them. They 

 were too exhausted to do much more than declare themselves no 

 monstrosities like the green rose and the green dahlia, but their 

 flowers were weak and yellowish. We shall await their return 

 with curiosity. 



Nearly all of the varieties of 1895 recommended in Bulletin 

 112 were grown again this year, and in general they were not dis- 

 appointing. Mrs. Henry Robinson, the best white of 1895, was 

 not as early in 1896, as expected. Crimsona was badly spotted 

 on the face of the rays with the color of the reverse. A rush of 

 work at a critical time caused this collection to be neglected dur- 

 ing the disbudding season and we got plants bearing great num- 

 bers of small blooms. The mass-effect was very strong, but 

 nearly all of the pronounced types of the year before suffered a 

 loss of individuality. The labor of disbudding chrysanthemums 

 is great and one must always get ahead of the plants. 



The variety test of i8g6 has been conducted as formerly, 



Note. — One of the novelties of the year was the Edible chrj-santhemum. 

 The plant was the earliest 'mum in the entire collection, but it was of poor 

 habit and bore very few leaves and had a medium-sized yellowish flower of 

 small merit from the florists' standpoint. This variety is said to be cultivated 

 extensively in Japan for the flower heads, which are boiled and eaten ; but 

 we fail to see why this particular variety is more edible than other 'mums. 



L. H. B. 



