CHAPTER XVI. 

 THE CHRYSANTHEMUM. 



The Californian enjoys marked advantages in the growth of the 

 chrysanthemum, and can do much in the open air which has to be 

 done with artificial heat under glass at the East and abroad. One 

 can infer this much from the common sight of acres of chrysanthe- 

 mums under a clear sky and not a sign of protection, unless the blooms 

 are for special exhibition or commercial purposes. It is true that it is 

 often desirable to rig up a sort of a fly of light cloth to protect the 

 bloom from the excessive heat of the sun, which is occasionally strong 

 enough late in the autumn to injure the purity and brilliance of the 

 bloom, but protection, except from heat or dust is not thought of. 

 Even the latest bloomers, which linger along until midwinter, do not 

 find anything in the California winter temperature to disconcert them, 

 but freely display their disheveled locks even amid storms, bending 

 by their own weight and that of the entangled raindrops and cast about 

 by the breeze until they seem like sea nymphs vainly endeavoring to 

 s'hake their tresses free from the gems which Neptune has showered 

 upon them. Charming even in such distress, and when the winter 

 garden would be otherwise well-nigh bereft of beauty, the chrysanthe- 

 mum brings its marvelous forms and wealth of colors to make even 

 the short, dark days delightful. 



But it is the midseason varieties, of course, which carry the greatest 

 weight of glory. In November the season is at its height, and then 

 there is seldom rain enough to disarrange a bloom or drive an admirer 

 to shelter. The heat and glare of midsummer are over, the winds are 

 resting for later exertions, and amid the most delightful surroundings 

 of warmth and quiet the queen of autumn displays her marvelous 

 charms. 



This exceptional adaptation of the autumn and early winter climate 

 of California to the growth of the chrysanthemum led Californians to 

 enlist most zealously in its service about twenty years ago when the 

 'mum was the ruling goddess of the floral world. Though its reign 

 was short at the East, because its blooming season made it practically 

 a greenhouse flower, in California its enjoyment of the open air ensures 

 permanent popularity. Its culture requirements are so few to secure 

 garden plants of satisfactory quality, the arts by which the finest show 

 blooms are obtained are so simple, and the extreme ease with which 

 the plant is multiplied and disseminated, the magnificent mass effects 

 it produces in decoration all these are elements of popularity which 

 will hold for the chrysanthemum a high place in public favor in Cali- 

 fornia. 



