THE CHRYSANTHEMUM, AND ITS CULTURE. 



175 



lorn, the leaves broad and bright, the flow- 

 ers well displayed at the end of each 

 branch, come in abundant quantity, and be 

 well supported by the stems. 



2. The flower should be round, double, 

 high in the crown, perfect in the centre, 

 without disk or confusion, and of the form 

 of half a ball. 



3. The individual petals should be thick, 

 smooth, broad, circular at the ends, accord- 

 ing with the circle of the flower, the inden- 

 tations where they meet hardly perceptible. 



4. The petals must not show their un- 

 der sides by quilling, and should be of such 

 firm texture as will retain them all in their 

 places. 



Size of bloom to be large in proportion to 

 the foliage, but the size only to be con- 

 sidered when plants are in all other re- 

 spects equal. 



The properties we have described bring 

 a good flower under one of the two classes, 

 ranunculus-flowered, or marigold-flowered, 

 and therefore we pronounce the tas>elled, 

 the quilled, the incurved, and all ragged 

 and confused varieties, as well as all those 

 which exhibit a disk, to be inferior to the 

 other flowers in all the points in which their 

 deficiencies can be recognised, and sincerely 

 hope that there may in a few seasons be a 

 sufficient number of good ones to enable us 

 to banish them altogether as show flowers. 



A FEW OF THE BEST CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 



A society has at length been formed in 

 the Metropolis for the encouragement of 

 this autumnal visitor, and we have been 

 gratified with a sight of chrysanthemums 

 as large as medium-sized dahlias. The 

 capabilities of this flower are but little 

 known by ordinary dealers ; for we have 

 been to the advertised collections of Messrs. 

 Chandler, said to be the best, and we are 

 bound to say that we there saw nothing to 

 tempt us to grow the chrysanthemum, ex- 

 cept as an out-of-door subject to prolong the 

 lively appearance of the garden after the 

 dahlias are over. The lanky branches, 

 only half furnished with discoloured leaves, 

 even in the best we saw, rendered them 

 very ugly in pots, and those who do not see 

 them grown as they may be grown, will 

 not be tempted to adopt them as a stock 

 flower in collections. Since the properties 

 of the chrysanthemum were laid down a 



few years since, the foreigners appear to 

 have chosen their new varieties better, and 

 there are some approaching the standard. 

 As a proof of the difference between well- 

 grown and ill-growa specimens : we had 

 made a descriptive list for the purpose of 

 publication, from the collection at the Vaux- 

 hall Nursery, and after attending the show 

 of the Chrysanthemum Society, held at the 

 Rochester Castle, Stoke Newington, we 

 threw our list into the fire ; we will givQ a 

 specimen of the discrepancy. 



The Clustered Yellow. — *' Bright yel- 

 low, flowering in clusters, with soft quilled 

 petals, standing out like irregular rays ; 

 these in some places thick ; in others thin, 

 so that the flower never forms a circle; 

 hard, confused eye, with petals undevelop- 

 ed ; abundant bloom." 



Perhaps the above description, taken 

 honestly from scores of plants at Vauxhall, 

 is as unjust as could be written; but it 

 seems that the chrysanthemum, like many 

 other subjects, wants more care than nurse- 

 rymen will bestow. Clustered yellow was 

 in all the winning stands, and there were 

 many pots of it besides, and our descrip- 

 tion from well-grown specimens would be 

 thus : — 



Clustered Yellow. — A noble, round, 

 bright yellow flower; very full on the face, 

 with exceedingly good centre petals, in- 

 clined to cup, and altogether one of the 

 best show flowers, according to the proper- 

 ties laid down. 



Goliah, anoiher grand flower, was exhi- 

 bited, as large a.- a middling sized dahlia. 

 The petals of this flower curl upwards and 

 turn over inwards, showing the back of the 

 petal, but very uniformly closing into as 

 splendid a bloom as ever we saw, forming 

 almost a cone, but rounded. The colour is 

 pale, but it is darkened gradually on one 

 side, like an apple or other fruit; the 

 shading is so gradual though it deepens. 

 The centre of this flower is good, though 

 made up as it were by the curling petals 

 meeting in the middle. We are quite 

 within bounds in saying that Goliah was 

 four inches across, and beautifully formed, 

 the outline as true as a drawn circle. 



Two COLOURED iJscuRVED is a noble flow- 

 er, thp front of the petals one colour, the 

 back another, and all the petals sufficiently 



