HISTORY OF THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 157 



cent, a great favorite with the ladies. (This is illus- 

 trated in the number of the Gardeners Monthly re- 

 ferred to.) Japonicum has remarkably twilled petals 

 orange and brown, and standing erect, while the whole 

 flower nods, making it look precisely like a rich tassel." 



By those introductions, Peter Henderson kindled 

 the flame which, fanned by John Thorpe and other 

 enthusiasts, gave the first impetus to Chrysanthemum 

 culture irr America. We have no evidence, however, of 

 any attempt to improve the flower till comparatively 

 recent times, and here again Boston leads the way. To 

 Dr. H. P. Walcott of Cambridge, Massachusetts, belongs 

 the honor of first raising new Chrysanthemums from 

 seed which was ripened in his own garden. His first 

 seedlings were exhibited before the Massachusetts Hort- 

 icultural Society at Boston during the autumn of 1879. 

 In subsequent years he raised great numbers, many of 

 considerable merit, and which were distributed by the 

 firm of Pitcher & Manda of Short Hills, New Jersey ; a 

 firm, by the way, that, in addition to distributing and 

 importing new kinds, also raised many good ones, and 

 in other ways did much that enhanced the popularity of 

 the Chrysanthemum in America. 



Mr. John Thorpe, in association with V. H. 

 Hallock & Sons of Queens, New York, was one of the 

 pioneer workers, as were also the firm of Edwin Fewkes 

 & Son of Newton Highlands, Massachusetts, W. K. 

 Harris, R. Craig and H. Waterer, all of Philadelphia, 

 and T. H. Spaulding of Orange, New Jersey. 



The chief American raisers of today are The E. G 

 Hill Co., Richmond, Indiana ; Nathan Smith & Son, 

 Adrian, Michigan, and J. N. May, Summit, New Jersey. 



There is also the Chrysanthemum Society of 

 America, organized in 1890 to promote the advance- 

 ment of the flower for which it stands. Its publica- 



