For November, 1921 



765 



The Royal Chrysanthemum 



BERTHA BERBERT-HAMMOND 



Fair floiccrs of Autuinn, though to you 



Sweet fragrance is denied, 



Your bcautv amply compensates 



The lack; from side to side 



Your graceful forms sway in the breeze, 



When all the leaves are off the trees. 



Bcrtlia Miihlcman. 



THOUGH the chrysanthemum is practically scent- 

 less, its great beauty and varieties of form and 

 coloring, and its late habit of bloom, have won 

 for it the fitting title of "Queen of .\utunin." 



During the past decade, the chrysanthemum has made 

 in this country rapid strides into popular favor, and the 

 interest in this flower of merit is constantly increasing, 

 due in a great measure to the educating influence of the 

 wonderful displays staged at both local and at national 

 chrysanthemum shows. In the city of Washington, at 

 one of the recent governmental shows, it is said that 

 nearly three hundred fine varieties were exhibited. 



To view the large blooms, produced by systematic dis- 

 budding in the form of downy plumes, loosely formed 

 Japanese, and brightly colored Chinese varieties, one 

 would hardly suspect that these regal flowers are the 

 descendants of a sort of wild daisy that was cultivated 

 and hybridized many centuries ago by Chinese botanists, 

 and later introduced into Japan, where it was still further 

 developed until the flower became closely associated with 

 the interests of the country. The Japanese of today are 

 enthusiastic chrysanthemum growers and show their love 

 and appreciation of the flower by using the word Kiku 

 (chrysanthemum) as the name of the ninth month of 

 their calendar in which they hold a chrysanthemum car- 

 nival. Kiku is also a favorite name for Japanese girls. 

 In art the chrysanthemum plays an important part, as the 

 Japanese use this flower freely in their decorations, evi- 

 dences of which mav be found on the fans, screens, boxes, 

 china, etc., that we import. A high honor in Japan that 

 is conferred on royalty only is that of "The Imperial 

 Order of the Chyrsanthemum," proving that in Japan 

 this flower is held in high esteem. On the other hand, 

 in some parts of Italy it does not enjoy such popularity. 

 Because of its use as a cemetery plant it has, vmfortu- 

 nately, become associated in the minds of many people 

 with sorrow and de'ath. 



Besides, Japan, England, Australia and the United 

 States grow the chrysanthemum extensively, producing 

 flowers of a high standard of merit. To raise such rare 

 beauties as are shown at noteworthy exhibitions requires 

 considerable experience, skill, time and great care. The 

 grower must know how and when to repot, feed, water, 

 protect, prune and disbud the plants, for usually only one 

 bud is left, all the others being sacrificed that the strength 

 of the severely pruned plant may be concentrated into the 

 full development of this one bud. With all hopes cen- 

 tered on one bud to a plant, unremitting patience and 

 care are required to guard against injury from pests, 

 blight, mildew, changes of temperature, or accidents, and 

 the reward for this patient, intelligent cultural treatment 

 is the perfect blossoms of great size, quality and rare 

 beauty so universally admired. 



Though the average amateur may not be able to pro- 

 duce prize-winning blooms, he can, with a little extra 

 trouble and close attention, grow some really creditable 

 chrysanthemums by procuring in the Spring well-rooted 

 cuttings of the desired sorts. If these plants are to be 

 grown by the pot method, they will require shifting from 

 time to time into larger pots, and pruning of the lateral 

 shoots as they present themselves. About August the 

 plants may be watered with liquid fertilizer until the buds 

 appear. The crown bud should be removed at once, and 

 all but a few of the others should be rubbed off, so as to 

 allow the full strength of the plant for the development 

 of the selected buds. Before frost, these potted plants 

 should be removed to a sheltered porch or frost-proof 

 room. 



If in May, when the small chrysanthemum cuttings are 

 received from the florist, they are set out in a sunnv bed 

 in well-worked enriched soil, much of the time and labor 

 necessary in the potting system may be saved. Placing 

 the plants a little over a foot apart in well defined rows 

 adds to the convenience and lessens the care re(|nired to 

 water, feed, prune and protect them from the harmful 

 effects of burning rays of sunshine or from earlv frosts. 

 Staking the plants will gtiard against damage from heavy 

 rain or wind storms. 



While the large-flowered, less hardy varieties require 

 Winter protection, the dainty little pompons are quite 

 hardy and will continue a display of bloom, adding in- 

 terest and color to the garden after the other flowers 

 have been frost-killed. 



The Topiary Art 



IT is not without interest, from time to time, to cast 

 an eye back upon what were the men and the things 

 of another period. Comparison of customs and 

 tasks permits the accounting for the changes that have 

 operated and for the difference, at times profound, that 

 se])arates us from the times that are passed. Such an 

 op|)ortunity was furnished us, in what concerns the art 

 of gardening, in the course of a visit that we made in 

 1912 to Friar Park, the splendid estate of Sir Frank 

 Crisp at Henley-on-Thames in the suburbs of Greater 

 London. 



It would require pages to describe the importance and 

 the great bcautv of the park, and tn speak of the lengthy 



galleries and underground grottoes lighted by electricity, 

 and of which certain scenes are so strange and impressive 

 that they make one think of the "Thousand and One 

 Nights." A large fortune has certainly been expended for 

 the construction of these grottoes, which extend over 

 several hundreds of meters, opening upon a large lake. 

 Le Petit Jardin has already given the description of some 

 of the most beautiful views of Mr. Crisp's gigantic Alpine 

 garden. 



It is a well-known fact that the topiary art. which 

 flourished in the sixteenth century and persisted to the 

 end of the eighteenth, consisted in trimming trees, that 

 lent themselves to it, into forms geometrical or fantastic. 



