THE CULTURE 



OF THE 



CHRYSANTHEMUM 



CHAPTER I. 



THE FIRST CHRYSANTHEMUM IN ENGLAND. 



The story of. the introduction of the chrysanthemum into 

 Europe has been frequently told, with more or less 

 accuracy. As might, perhaps, be expected, the early records 

 are meagre and somewhat vague. The eighth edition of 

 Philip Miller's great work, the " Gardeners' Dictionary," 

 mentions that he cultivated the Matricaria indica at 

 Chelsea in 1764, and this is claimed to be the first appear- 

 ance of the flower in this country. It was received from 

 Ningpo in China, where at that time it was known to 

 grow plentifully. But there is good reason to believe that 

 this plant was a kind of pyrethrum, and not a true chry- 

 santhemum at all. 



In 1789 M. Blancard, a merchant of Marseilles, brought 

 home three varieties of chrysanthemums from China a 

 white, a violet, and a purple but he only succeeded in 

 propagating one, the purple. Three years later a French 

 botanist named Ramatuelle sent about one hundred plants 

 raised from the new chrysanthemum to the Jardin des 



