CHOICE OF FLOWERS 



the ground as soon as the petals have fallen, that 

 is, if it is hardy, and next autumn, lo, a miracle! 

 For instead of six or eight flowers something 

 less in size than cabbages, here come thirty or 

 forty of them, but all smaller than last year's 

 buds; each a copy in miniature of the stately 

 blooms of a twelvemonth ago. This increase in 

 number and shrinkage in size and value but de- 

 note the reversion of the plant to its original 

 type, the assertion of nature, and its reclamation 

 of this, its offspring. In urging the chrysanthe- 

 mum to feats and freaks of growth and color, 

 shape and size, we sap its strength, and our in- 

 door coddling makes it subject to colds and other 

 diseases. Old-fashioned varieties are best to 

 live out, for civilization weakens the subject. 

 Hothouses are snares for both the vegetable and 

 human victim: they so easily lead both into 

 habits of luxury. Chrysanthemums can be 

 started early in a hotbed, or later in the place 

 where they are to grow. Those left out for the 

 winter are to be cut down and thickly mulched. 

 The showiest varieties are tender, and will re- 

 quire to be taken indoors and treated like other 

 members of the family — a service which they re- 

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