2 THE CULTURE OF THE CHRYSANTHEMUM. 



Plantes, a<t Paris, where they flourished. This had 

 the result of popularising the strange but lovely 

 Eastern flower, and within a few years chrysanthemums 

 were to be found growing in gardens in Aix, Marseilles 

 and Toulon as abundantly as the China aster. 



Cultivated in England. 



It was not until several years later, till 1795, that the 

 history of the chrysanthemum began in England. It is 

 recorded in the " Botanical Magazine " for February, 

 1796, that in the previous November a handsome chry- 

 santhemum of the crimson-purple variety flowered in the 

 nursery of Mr. Colvill, of King's Road, Chelsea. The 

 variety was probably precisely the same as that which M. 

 Blancard introduced direct from China at Marseilles. A 

 coloured engraving of the bloom was given in the 

 " Botanical Magazine," and was described under the name 

 of C. indicum although, as a matter of fact, C. indicum 

 was classified as a yellow before Mr. Colvill 's crimson- 

 purple flower attracted attention in 1796, and is still known 

 as a yellow chrysanthemum. But I cannot stop to dwell 

 at length upon this point; any reader who is curious to 

 learn what the experts had to say regarding C. sinense and 

 C. indicum will find the opinions of Sabine, Lindley, and 

 others summarised in "The Gardeners' Chronicle," 

 November, 1889. 



Between 1795 and 1808 about eight new varieties were 

 imported into England from China namely, the rose, the 

 buff, the golden yellow, the quilled yellow, the sulphur- 

 yellow, the Spanish brown, the quilled white, and the large 

 lilac. At this period chrysanthemums were so popular in 

 Japan that they were cultivated in almost every garden. 

 In 1816 was introduced the tasselled white, and in 1817 

 the superb white. In 1822 there were in cultivation in 

 Great Britain 22 varieties; in 1824, 27; and in 1826, 48 

 four of which were sports which originated in England, 

 All the others were, however, believed to have been intro- 

 duced from China. 



