CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 73 



are American raised kinds. The pioneers in this field were Dr. 

 Walcott, John Thorpe, W. K. Harris, and Arthur H. Fewkes, 

 and lately there are quite a number of amateurs and florists who 

 are raising new varieties erery year. 



A new variety should never be judged with any definiteness 

 the first year, and should be generally grown two seasons before 

 it can be considered well tested. Thus some of the most promis- 

 ing varieties have proved total failures the second year, while on 

 the other hand, many that have been condemned the first year 

 have proved valuable acquisitions when tried another season. 



The hybridizing or cross fertilizing of chrysanthemums is a 

 very uncertain work as regards results, owing to the mass of 

 florets which are gathered in one single head. It is very hard to 

 tell whether a floret has been fertilized with its own pollen, or 

 cross fertilized with the pollen of another variet}^ of the same 

 class but different color through the agency of insects, especially 

 bees, before the hand of the horticulturist has tried his own work 

 on it ; and it is for that reason that no raiser of chrysanthemums 

 can say with any degree of certainty that any variety is a cross 

 between such and such varieties, except when kept separate from 

 all other varieties of the collection . 



In regard to the results it is also very misleading ; the colors of 

 the supposed parents are sometimes never reproduced and if you 

 raise as many as Mty seedlings from the same head of flower, 3'ou 

 may get all other colors, but none like the two parents. 



In point of vigor of growth, chrysanthemums vary considerably 

 in the various sections of the country as well as in different sea- 

 sons. Thus many of the varieties cultivated in England for 

 exhibition cannot be grown here with any success, and vice versa ; 

 while last year being exceptionally wet none of the chrysanthe- 

 mums planted out of doors did as well as usual. As to the 

 various sections of this country, we find that the finest chrysan- 

 themums in America are grown in and around Philadelphia. 



Some varieties also require different treatment from others ; 

 Mrs. Alpheus Hardy, Crimson King, Belle Paule, and others, are 

 very partial to excessive moisture. The same applies to pinching ; 

 some varieties, such as Grandiflora and others, if pinched late will 

 not produce an}' flowers at all. 



The culture of chrysanthemums is very simple when the cardinal 

 points are well observed, namely, selecting strong, soft shoots for 

 cuttings, and, as soon as thej' are rooted, never allowing them to 



