November 20, 1889.] 



Garden and Forest. 



553 



GARDEN AND FOREST. 



PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY 



THE GARDEN AND FOREST PUBLISHING CO. 



Office : Tkibune Building, New York. 



Conducted by Professor C. S. Sargent. 



ENTERED AS SECOND-CLASS MATTER AT THE POST OFFICE AT NEW YORK, N. Y. 



NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1889. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



PAGE. 



Editorial Articles : — The Chrysanthemum 553 



Among the Pines of Northern Michi<^an. — I Professor W. J. Beat. 554 



Harrly Shrubs With Ornamental Fruit S. C. Mason. 554 



Hohday Notes in Southern France and Northern Italy.— V. 



George Nicholson. 555 



New or Little Known Plants : — A New Winter Blooming Begonia. (With 



Illustration.) V.Lctnoine. 556 



Viburnum Sieboldii. (With Figure.) — C. S. S. 556 



Plant Notes : — Myrica rubra Louis Bahmer. 5s6 



Cultural Department: — Bromelias W. Watson. 556 



Figs in the South George B. Walsh. 558 



The Flower-Garden in Autumn E. O. Orpet. 558 



Palms for Small Places W. H. Taplin. 559 



Orchid Notes John Weathers, F. Coldrhig. 560 



Melothria punctata 5'. 560 



Begonia Socotrana, Jasminum gracillimum W. 561 



A merican-grown Cauliflower Seed ; Two New Squashes. 



Professor E. S. Gojf. 561 



Correspondence : — Growing Timber Without Knots B. E. Fernow. 561 



Ocneria dispar Quis. 562 



Exhibitions : — The Chrysanthemum Show at Philadelphia S. 562 



The Chrysanthemum Show at Boston D. 563 



Notes 564 



Illustrations :— Begonia Triomphe de Lemoine, Fig. 144 557 



Viburnum Sieboldii, Fig. 145 559 



The Chrysanthemvim. 



THE celebration in England, and in several countries 

 on the continent, of the hundredth anniversary 

 of the introduction of the Chrysanthemum into European 

 gardens, is one of the most interesting horticultural events 

 of the year. It can hardly be said that these festal cere- 

 monies have done or w^ill do much to kindle the enthusi- 

 asm of Chrysanthemum growers, for the simple reason 

 that the ardor of their devotion is already a proverb, and 

 it could hardly be more fervent. Thirty-five years ago an 

 eminent horticultural authority declared that the passion 

 for Chrysanthemums had become a mania in ^the British 

 Islands ; and certainly the zeal of English horticulturists in 

 this direction has known no languor since. But this cen- 

 tennial commemoration has really done much to stimu- 

 late historical research. All the records of the century 

 have been ransacked for facts and illustrations that will 

 throw any light upon the origin and development of the 

 flower, and, after the elaborate treatment of the subject by 

 the horticultural press and the publication of the papers 

 read at the Chiswick conference, little will be left untold 

 of the history of the Chrysanthemum since its invasion of 

 Europe a hundred years ago — or should we say two hun- 

 dred years ago .? The Gardeners' Magazine, which is the 

 earliest of English horticultural journals to issue a centen- 

 nial number — and an admirable number it is — repeats the 

 quotation from Jacob Breynius in the " Prodromus Plan- 

 tarum Rariorum," a work published in 1689, in which si.x 

 varieties of the Chrysanthemum are described as culti- 

 vated in Holland at that time ; and who knows for how 

 long a period before 1 There is little doubt, however, that 

 these flowers were subsequently lost to Dutch gardens. 

 At least when the large flowering Chinese Chrysanthemum 

 was re-introduced a century later, the gardeners of Holland 

 knew nothing of it. 



But the Chrysanthemum has a long history as a culti- 

 vated flower in the gardens of Asia before it was introduced 

 to European civilization, whatever may be the exact date 

 of its advent there. In northern and central China it has 

 been grown with rare skill from the earliest times of which 

 that ancient race has any authentic record. The well 



known dish in the Franks' collection in the British Museum, 

 decorated with this flower, is more than 450 years old, and 

 in Japan it was wrought on the hilts of imperial swords 

 forged seven centuries ago. But there is an earlier history 

 still, of which no record exists in porcelain or bronze, and 

 many a botanist would rather be able to identify the wild 

 species from which the Chrysanthemum originated than to 

 be familiar with all its garden history. 



Glancing for a moment at the history of the Chrysanthe- 

 mum in Europe, one is struck by the remarkable series of 

 surprises which have occurred at intervals to revive or in- 

 crease the popular interest in its cultivation. Of the three 

 plants introduced a century ago, a purple one alone sur- 

 vived, and its value as an autumn flower was at once appreci- 

 ated. Rose colored and buff flowers appeared a few years 

 later, followed by the quilled yellow, the Spanish brown 

 and the large lilac, and soon a white sport from the purple 

 variety revealed the variable character of the plant and 

 aroused the eagerness of collectors, so that during the first 

 twenty years of this century it already ranked among the 

 most popular of garden flowers. About the end of this 

 period, striking novelties in form and color were imported, 

 until fifty well-tested varieties were found in English gar- 

 dens. None of these could win a first premium in an ex- 

 hibition now, but many of them had wonderful beauty of 

 form, and, judging from the illustrations then published, 

 they were characterized by a wayward grace in the dispo- 

 sition of the long florets which in recent times would be 

 attributed to a mixture of Japanese blood. Meantime the 

 Chrysanthemum, under the sunny skies of France, had been 

 ripening seed, and ardent admirers of the flower began to 

 raise seedlings. Growers in Jersey soon followed, and 

 even in England, where a sunless climate made the ripen- 

 ing of seeds a difficult matter, some seedlings were raised; 

 and in 1835 appeared, among others, the variety known as 

 Nonpareil, which is still grown and exhibited. The intro- 

 duction of the Pompon class in 1846 was another distinct 

 advance, and Chusan Daisies, as these flowers were called, 

 at once became reigning favorites in France. The great 

 exhibitions began in the middle of the century, and since 

 then the evolution of the flower has been closely watched 

 by enthusiasts in its culture in all the temperate climates of 

 the globe. Varieties which did not bloom until late in 

 spring, were followed by precocious kinds, which flowered 

 in August, until the year was almost girdled with Chrysan- 

 themums. Then came I\Ir. Fortune's notable introduction 

 of the Japanese varieties. These were contemptuously 

 received by the old school of florists because they failed to 

 conform to the rigorous standard of perfection. But of the 

 seven original importations five are still common in gar- 

 dens, while Golden Dragon and Grandiflorum retain their 

 position in the foremost rank of exhibition flowers. 



But the prime value of these introductions from Japanese 

 gardens was not revealed until they proved their potency ' 

 as parent plants in the hands of the hybridizer. Colors 

 have been intensifled until we can reasonably hope for a 

 clear crimson, and cultural surprises in the matter of form 

 and habit have signalized almost every exhibition season. 

 The latest astonishment came two years ago, when the ]\Irs. 

 Hardy bloomed in Boston, and this year -a flower with the 

 same downy pubescence, but a different color, has been 

 found in a Japanese importation by Mr. Peter Henderson. 

 What will be the next surprise.? The blue flower, reputed 

 as hiding somewhere among the temples of the East, is no 

 doubt a myth. But was the painting of a climbing Chry- 

 santhemum seen by Mr. Molyneux a product of the imagi- 

 nation only.' Can anything be hoped from an infusion of 

 the blood of any of the wild varieties, especially from that 

 of some ancestral type.' Such a return to original sources 

 might restore the vigor of constitution which pampering 

 for many generations has impaired. Time alone can 

 answer these questions; but we may rest assured that 

 whatever changes may come, the Chrysanthemum will re- 

 tain its hold upon popular affection. 



In American gardens the Chrysanthemum has long been 



