78 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



be had in bloom from the first of January to the last of December. 

 Probably the blooms will not all be np to first-class gi'ade as to- 

 form, size, color, and quality, as when flowered iu th.e autumn, 

 but they will possess enough good points to make them acceptable. 

 For ten years he had never been without chrysanthemum flowers. 

 We have to remember that they are herbaceous plants which after 

 they start to grow keep on until they have produced buds, flowers, 

 aud — if they are natural — seeds, which completes their work. 

 But he did not think much was gained by interfering with their 

 natural time of flowering ; as we know that strawberries are best 

 iu June, so chrysanthemums are best in November. 



Presideut Spoouer spoke of the practice of awarding medals or 



other prizes for seedlings, upon the exhibition of their first flowers, 



and asked Mr. Thorpe if he thought it wise to do so, or better to 



postpone the awards until after a trial of two j^ears or longer had 



■ proved the real merits of the new variety. 



Mr. Thorpe replied that the first year his seedling, Mrs. Cleve- 

 land, flowered, he thought it a capital prize. It was propagated 

 aud sold the following spring, but when it flowered the second 

 year, instead of proving itself a gem of the first water, it came 

 down as low as third class. Yes, seedlings should alwaj's be 

 tested more than one season, and no prize should be awarded to 

 any until its superiority in character and habit is full}' established. 

 He said also that it is unwise for a grower to offer to the public 

 any new plant or flower until its merits are shown to be greater 

 than those of existing kinds, especially where varieties are so 

 numerous and in many cases so excellent. 



E. W. Wood congratulated the company present upon this 

 opportunity to hear what Mr. Thorpe had to say upon this subject. 

 The essayist was the man of all men in this country who could tell 

 us most about chrj'sauthemums, their propagation and culture, the 

 production of new varieties, the selection of varieties for special 

 purposes, and all other important pouits. His paper gave but 

 little of wliat he knows about this matter. All he knows could 

 not be told in one lecture. We know that great progress has been 

 made recently in the improvement of the chrysanthemum. The 

 enthusiasm aroused in this work extends from the Atlantic to the 

 Pacific, and in view of late successes there is no prospect of its 

 decline in the near future. The great imi)rovement of these plants 

 has involved clianges in the methods of their culture as great as 

 are the changes in their character and the use made of them. To 



