CHRYSANTHEMUMS 



among the authors of his time, opens 

 upon the unexpected gardens of the 

 seventeenth century. The fa6l none the 

 less remains that it is to his somewhat 

 bigoted florist, to his somewhat fren- 

 zied horticulturist, that we owe our 

 exquisite flower-beds, our more varied, 

 more abundant, more luscious vege- 

 tables, our even more delicious fruits. 

 Contemplate, for instance, around the 

 chrysanthemums, the marvels that 

 ripen nowadays in the meanest gar- 

 dens, among the long branches wisely 

 subdued by the patient and generous 

 espaliers. Less than a century ago they 

 were unknown ; and we owe them to 

 the trifling and innumerable exertions 

 of a legion of small seekers, all more 



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