32 PRESENT-DAY GARDENING 



garden frame is a useful acquisition. Popular as these 

 Chrysanthemums have become, I believe that their culti- 

 vation is not so general as it ought to be. For market 

 purposes, however, such vast numbers are cultivated, that 

 in a normal season the flowers cause a glut in the market. 

 But even in the presence of a glut of ordinary flowers there 

 is always a steady demand for the more highly developed 

 flowers, such as are sent in by Messrs. Lowe & Shawyer, 

 Cragg, Harrison & Cragg, and many other good growers. 

 It is greatly to the credit of these firms that they are able 

 to produce a class of flower which creates a demand for 

 itself and is unaffected by the glut of what may be termed 

 second or third-class flowers. 



It was my privilege during October 1911 to visit two 

 or three of these huge flower-producing establishments, 

 and I was very much struck with the great care and 

 attention that was paid to outdoor Chrysanthemums, acres 

 of them being covered with canvas each night to protect 

 them from the wind and frosts. In some instances 

 even, small portable boilers and pipes were used to help 

 to finish the flowers late in October, the earlier varieties 

 not requiring protection. In a great many instances the 

 plants were disbudded, each carrying from 9 to 12 blooms, 

 and in some cases even more. Where they were left as 

 sprays the flowers were as close together as the ears in 

 a field of wheat, notwithstanding the plants were from 

 1 8 inches to 2 feet apart each way. This is an instance 

 of high-class cultivation, and it serves to show how far 

 the culture of outdoor Chrysanthemums has been de- 

 veloped for market purposes. 



But it is in the home garden that we desire to intro- 

 duce the border Chrysanthemums. They come in flower 



