EARLY IMPORTATIONS 9 



EARLY IMPORTATIONS AND SEEDLINGS 



The " Old Purple " Chrysanthemum remained for a 

 little time the only variety in cultivation in this country ; 

 but the gardeners of England were not slow to appreciate 

 its value, and between 1798 and 1808 eight new varieties 

 were introduced. The number was again increased by a 

 sport from the "Old Purple" in 1802. Between 1816 and 

 1823 seventeen new varieties were brought from the East, 

 and among those who were most conspicuous in intro- 

 ducing fresh varieties may be mentioned Mr. Thomas 

 Evans of Stepney, Sir Abraham Hume, Mr. Thomas 

 Palmer of Bromley, and Messrs. Barr & Brookes of Ball's 

 Pond. But growers in this country were also largely 

 indebted to Mr. John Reeves, a tea buyer for the East 

 India Company who was resident in Canton and a corre- 

 spondent of the Horticultural Society of London (now the 

 Royal Horticultural Society). 



The Horticultural Society of London entered enthusi- 

 astically into the work of collecting new varieties. Mr. John 

 Potts, a gardener in the Society's service, made a collection 

 of about forty varieties which were, unfortunately, lost on 

 their way home. In 1823 the Society despatched Mr. John 

 Damper Parks to China with instructions to collect among 

 other plants as many good Chrysanthemums as possible. 

 He sent home and brought with him on his return about 

 twenty varieties, and all but four of them were distinct from 

 those already in cultivation in this country. 



The number of known varieties in 1824 was only 

 twenty-seven, but these were increased two years later to 

 forty-eight, several of the new varieties being vegetative 

 sports. All these were in the possession of the Horti- 



