THE CHRYSANTHEMUM. 29 



Of sumptuous flowerage, making Summer tame, 

 And flush with Eastern pomp the dark and cold. 



Voyager from Japan and broad Cathay, 



The slant-eyed yellow people love thee much : 



(All humans love a flower) and know the way 

 To fix their garden favorite with fine touch 

 In shapes of art. How joyful we to clutch 



Their gifts ! — but shall we clasp their hands one day? " 



Mr. B. C. Raveuscroft, in his treatise on the Chrysanthemum, 

 published in London in 1894, speaks of the popularity of the 

 flower in England. He says that "from the date of the first 

 Chrysanthemum show held in England in 1830, it has steadily 

 advanced, not only in popularity, but in the size and beauty of 

 the flowers as well, and above all in the number of new varieties 

 constantly being introduced. As a matter of fact, more 

 ' novelties ' are now being raised and sent out annually than the 

 entire list would number but a very few years ago. Several 

 years have now elapsed since it was the opinion of many horti- 

 culturists (myself among the number) that the Chrysanthemum 

 'craze' was already on the wane; but the ev^ent proved the idea 

 to be altogether erroneous. On the contrary, the flower has since 

 become vastly more popular, and is now cultivated in much 

 larger numbers and to greater perfection than ever." Our own 

 •experience here in the United States is but a counterpart of that 

 in the mother country. 



Mr. Eavenscroft says further, and very justly, that "the secret 

 ■of the extraordinary popularity of the Chrysanthemum is prob- 

 ably to be found in its unprecedentedly accommodating charac- 

 ter, combined with its great utility, not only for exhibition and 

 ordinary decorative purposes, but for supplying flowers for cut- 

 ting, etc. ; while the fact of its natural season of flowering 

 being the autumn and early winter, when flowers generally are 

 much scarcer than at any other season, is doubtless a strong 

 point in its favor. The culture of the plant, at least to a moder- 

 ate degree of excellence, is also extremely simple, though this 

 can scarcely be said of the production of blossoms for exhibition 

 of the degree of perfection that is required at the present day ; 

 while the season for flowering is a long one, and ma}' be extended 

 to more than half of the year. 



"The Chrysanthemum is indeed vigorous, free-rooting, and 



