THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 295 



it bloomed in summer; but if that slightly reduced its army of 

 ardent followers, nevertheless it would still be a highly popular 

 flower. 



While we claim for the Chrysanthemum that it has beauty 

 enough to enable it to become a floral favourite at any season of 

 the year, we are far from pretending that its late flowering is an 

 unimportant matter. The fact that this magnificent plant is at its 

 best at a period when every other great flower is practically over 

 is one of the utmost importance. It supplies our conservatories, 

 our homes, with a magnificent array of material very cheaply at a 

 season when, without it, flowers could only be got with consider- 

 able expense. Few blossoms are more delightful than light, fleecy 

 Chrysanthemums for vases. They look charming everywhere. 



Chrysanthemums are town as well as country plants. It is 

 true that the Londoner's autumn bane fog often mars choice 

 blooms that were being specially developed for exhibition. But 

 one has only to visit the displays in the public parks of the metro- 

 polis to realise that the Chrysanthemum is a real town flower. 

 These park shows are extremely interesting and valuable. They 

 are open free to the public, and they are visited by thousands 

 of the most unrefined people every year. That they exercise a 

 real influence is proved by the increasing number of times that 

 one sees Chrysanthemums grown in town gardens. If the people 

 cannot grow Chrysanthemums under glass they grow them in the 

 open air. In the course of a short railway journey through the 

 south-eastern district of London, made with the object of visiting 

 a large exhibition held by the National Chrysanthemum Society at 

 the Crystal Palace one early November day, we observed Chrysan- 

 themums in scores of otherwise dingy back gardens. The con- 

 ditions under which they were growing were varied. One person 

 had tried the big-bloom system of culture on outdoor plants, and 

 his success was not inspiriting. There were several feet of plant, 

 several inches of flower-stem, and, impotently crowning all, a mere 



