Floricultural and Botanical Notices. 27 



other flowers which possess less merit than this, and are far 

 less attractive in conseqnence of their blooming at a period 

 when there is always a profusion of flowers. For several 

 years the London Horticultural Society took a deep interest 

 in the culture of the chrysanthemum, and the introduction of 

 new sorts from China, and their collector in China was espe- 

 cially directed to send home every obtainable variety. The 

 number was in consequence greatly augmented, and the So- 

 ciety made one of the most elegant displays of this autumnal 

 flower. So much indeed was the Society devoted to it, that 

 several elegantly colored plates, of some of the most beautiful 

 kinds, appeared in the T)-ansactions of the Society, with full 

 descriptions, by the secretary, Mr. Sabine. All the varieties 

 were subsequently critically examined by the late Mr. Ha- 

 worth, and a list of those introduced to 1833 was published 

 in Loudon^s Magazine, and copied into our Magazine, 

 (Vol. I, p. 141.) But gradually the taste for the chrysanthe- 

 mum seemed to decline, and many of the original kinds were 

 lost to collections ; and it was only upon the introduction of 

 the new seedlings of the French and Belgian cultivators, 

 some five or six years ago, that this taste was again revived. 

 Since then it has been steadily upon the increase, gaining 

 strength by the production of many new kinds of great 

 beauty, until it has raised the chrysanthemum to a prominent 

 place among Florists' flowers. At the present time there are 

 several Chrysanthemum Societies around London, who hold 

 annual exhibitions of the flowers, and the success which has 

 attended their organization is the best evidence of the inter- 

 est that has been created for this best of late autumn plants. 

 The Stoke Newington Chrysanthemum Society is, we be- 

 lieve, one of the most flourishing. It held its annual meet- 

 ing on the 20th of November, and numerous prizes were 

 given for plants in pots, and for cut flowers in classes of 

 24, 12, and 6 blooms, as with the dahlia. As a specimen of 

 the perfection in which the plants are grown, it is stated " that 

 the single specimen plants, with one stem only, were exam- 

 ples of the highest cultivation. From a single stem, some 

 inches clear above the pot, the laterals had started ; these 



