THE POMPON CHRYSANTHEMUM 167 



told that they would 'live anywhere,' and 

 being an ignorant rather than a careless 

 cultivator, I did not realize, until I tried it, 

 the difference between living upon scant 

 rations and flourishing upon plenty. There 

 are now so many new plants springing from 

 the roots that in another year I shall be able 

 to nearly double each row. 



"Though they are an old-fashioned plant, 

 and somewhat neglected just now, they are 

 offered by seedsmen and nurserymen, who 

 carry (according to their catalogues), some 

 as few as four, one as many as forty- 

 seven, named varieties, and one offers the 

 seed. 



"They have the same shaped characteristic 

 leaves as the show flowers, but are smaller, 

 and bear their own small, symmetrical, more 

 or less double flowers, in great profusion. 

 The blossoms vary in size with the varieties, 

 my small reds being seldom more than an 

 inch across, while the yellows are two inches ; 

 and I have seen other varieties whose flowers 

 were as much as two and a half inches in 

 diameter. It is possible to produce larger 

 flowers by disbudding and growing only a 

 few to a stem, but this requires more time 



