252 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



occasion. Be that as it may, I prefer to leave provincialism out in this 

 address, and sp->ak of the original name— the chrysanthemum— the prim- 

 itive color of which seems, from the derivation of the word chrysos, gold, 

 and anthos, flower, to have been yellow; it belongs to the same natural order 

 as the daisy. Its origin is very remote, cultivated varieties having been in 

 existence in Japan and China for at least 2,500 years, and are supposed to 

 have been derived from an indigeneous plant, the chrysanthemum indicum, 

 the flower of which is small, single and of a yellow color. In 1824 there 

 were only about thirty varieties in England; now there are hundreds, if 

 not thousands, and in this country there have been 239 new varieties 

 registered with the secretary of the American Association; all of a recent 

 date -for it has only been a few years since its introduction in America 

 for general cultivation. 



November, the month of short days, and so often gloomy skies, brings 

 the annual glories of the chrysanthemums. The first exhibition in Min- 

 nesota was held under the auspices of our worthy president, Wyman 

 Elliot, in this city during that month last autumn, and it brought the 

 annual glories of the flower. Nowhere in all the year was there a time 

 when there was gathered such a variety of brilliant .colors. Its wonder- 

 ful variety, both of color and form, is the most remarkable thing about it. 

 These late flowers are not marked like the roses and violets by sweet odors; 

 nature gives fragrance to her spring blossoms, rather than to those of the 

 autumn. But she compensates these latest of all the year's flowers by giv- 

 ing them, instead of fragrance, such a dazzling blaze of varied colors, that 

 in the collection like the exhibition in Minneapolis, where the best kinds 

 were seen, the visitor was half dazed by the brilliantly contrasting 

 glories, on all sides, and he hardly knew which way to turn. The bright- 

 est, most showy flowers were those of the deep, intense golden hues, of 

 which there were many shades and varieties— the king of all being the 

 Golden Dragon, the imperial national flower of Japan. Its splendid 

 beauty, in its flowing and gracefully twisted petals, has not yet been sur- 

 passed. Some of the gorgeous velvety red varieties are highly attractive; 

 while the finely shaded, delicate pinks constitute a charming class, some 

 of which are exquisitely beautiful. The incurved terra-cotta colored 

 kinds, making the flower almost a large ball, the petals reddish on one 

 side and cream colored on the other, were much in favor with the visitors, 

 as were some of the streaming-petaled pure white varieties, whether 

 incurved or twisted. Of the whole immense exhibition such pure white 

 kinds as the Robert Bollomly were deservedly favorites. The intense 

 deep gold of the Solomon's Temple, is sure to catch and hold the eye; 

 while some of the fluffy golds and whites of various names were not less 

 attractive. 



The rapid and enormous development of the chrysanthemum within 

 the last half a dozen of years, is one of the most remarkable illustrations 

 of the possibilities of the Darwinian law of evolution. China and Japan 

 were far in advance of us in this art, for art it certainly is, and it is from 

 their splendidly developed varieties that this country and Europe have 

 obtained many of the most admired existing kinds. But, backward as 

 our country has so long been in its appreciation of this showy autumnal 

 flower, it is making amends for the deficiency, and with characteristic 

 haste and fervor. In many of our eastern portions the annual chrysan- 



