Oriental and European History. 25 



mums was determined upon, Robert James leading the move- 

 ment as treasurer and advocate ; and he was ever known as 

 father of the first chrysanthemum show. This association 

 was known as the Stoke Newington, later the Borough of 

 Hackney Florists' Society, and still more recently, the National 

 Chrysanthemum Society. For many years it prospered under 

 its original name, which was afterwards discarded for that of 

 the Borough of Hackney. Owing to the large number of new 

 members, and to extend the sphere of the society's work, it 

 was finally given the name of the National Chrysanthemum 

 Society. This society, in addition to the usual November 

 show, now holds each year exhibitions of early flowering 

 chrysanthemums, as well as conducting exhibitions in the 

 chief provincial cities. The society's official catalogue is 

 accepted as the standard for all questions of classification and 

 nomenclature, and is an excellent book of reference for chrys- 

 anthemum growers in either England or America. 



As if by magic every important town in England followed 

 this example, and at the present time nearly every town and 

 village has its chrysanthemum show. 



Mr. John Salter also did much to advance the interest of 

 the autumn queen in England, his name being to the present 

 day most pleasantly associated with the chrysanthemum and 

 familiar to growers on both sides of the Atlantic. He first 

 commenced his horticultural career as an amateur at Shep- 

 herd's Bush, near London, but afterwards removed to Ver- 

 sailles, France, where the climate was more congenial to the 

 cultivation of his favorite flower. He was personally ac- 

 quainted with many of the French and other growers and 

 knew far more of the progress of foreign growers than any 

 man in England in his day. His work "The Chrysanthe- 

 mum, Its History and Culture," published twenty-five years 

 ago, is still, notwithstanding its age, a book of much value. 

 From it we learn that, finding the climate of France more 



