CHAPTER II 



Culture for Exhibition 



In numbers and extent of culture the Chrysanthe- 

 mum probably ranks next to the Rose and the Carna- 

 tion. But as an exhibition flower it stands pre-eminent 

 and in its brief season holds undisputed sway. No 

 flower has ever been so generally and so successfully 

 exploited for shows, and the enthusiasm is manifested 

 in the holding of scores of exhibitions from Canada 

 to the Gulf of Mexico and from the Atlantic to the 

 Pacific. This intensive cultivation for exhibition dif- 

 fers only from ordinary cultivation in that it is a 

 concentration of effort toward bringing each variety 

 to the highest pitch of attainable excellence in form, 

 finish and size; and though some decry the big blooms 

 a> coarse,, and question the taste of those who admire 

 them, yet the votaries of the exhibition blooms are in 

 the majority and they have ample justification to 

 sustain their desire for them. It is not the ordinary 

 horse, the range cattle, the dog of the streets, nor the 

 common barnyard fowl that attract visitors to the live 

 stock exhibitions, although these all fill their allotted 

 niche in the world's economy. Likewise, if we cease 

 to grow and hold exhibitions of Chrysanthemums, the 

 interest in the flower, the incentive to develop, improve 

 old, and originate new varieties, may be expected to 

 wane. Exhibition flowers are not a product of secret 

 practices, but of cultural exactitude, from start to 

 finish, doing the right thing, in the right way, at the 

 proper moment, in short, a careful observance of 



