189G.] ESSAYS. 93 



colors and best tiowers. It is well to remember always that the higher 

 breeding lessens the vitality, often times in the seed, and almost al- 

 ways in the resulting plant, so take care of the weakest if you desire 

 to have the best is a good motto to carry with you all the time when 

 gardening. 



There seems to be a growing tendency to consider the Chrysanthe- 

 mum only as a tlower for the professional florist to produce— one that 

 the amateur is unable to handle, and at the same time get first class 

 results from his efforts. Now, while it is true that the florist is neces- 

 sarily a good grower of this Queen of Autumn, it by no means follows 

 that any one who has the shelter necessary in fall to protect the plants 

 from frost and damp cannot also enjoy his share of the good things 

 that our Queen of Autumn has to dispense. It seems. to me that there is 

 no one flower so well adapted to the needs of the people, or one that 

 will give so much pleasure at the dullest time of year for the amount of 

 care bestowed on it, as the Chrysanthemum. The largest blooms are 

 not the best always, neither are the huge specimens we see at exhibi- 

 tions to be regarded as the acme of perfection for general use as dec- 

 orative plants ; to me they are interesting only as showing how far it 

 is possible to develop a plant by high culture, disbudding and train- 

 ing. For general use and the most satisfaction give me good-sized 

 flowers, grown even sometimes as sprays by taking out the leadino- 

 bud and letting the others develop at their own sweet will, and a 

 bunch of these loosely arranged in a vase will far exceed in 

 artistic merit a number of huge blooms, many of which 

 are too heavy to be supported by the stems There is an- 

 other reason for this loss of enthusiasm among the smaller growers, 

 and it is a more difficult one to do battle with. There was a 

 time not long since when we could root a cutting, plant it out in the 

 garden, and forget all about it until time to protect from frost in fall, 

 and we used to get lots of bloom with a minimum of labor. All this 

 is changed now, and the cause taken as a nnit is a very small one, but 

 taken collectively in the shape of an army of Chinch bugs it proves to 

 be too much for the most skilful cultivator, and he takes his plants 

 indoors, and keeps them there all summer, so that he can fumigate oc- 

 casionally when the bugs have the importunity to invade the sanctum 

 sanctorum, for they will come even into the greenhouse, and the re- 

 sult of their work is seen in the early forenoon by the tops of some of 

 the shoots wilting when the sun gels high, a close examination will 

 reveal the puncture and oozing out of the sap, and if you are cautious 

 and approach the plant quietly, the enemy may soon be seen ; be does 



