THE CHINA ASTER. 



The plants raised from the seeds sent by M. D'Incarville 

 yielded only one variety, and flowers of uniform colour. 

 Eventually, the velvety florets which surrounded the disc, 

 were doubled, quadrupled, and varied indefinitely by cul- 

 tivation. Some have thought, but erroneously, that the 

 Chinese were acquainted only with the simple violet-coloured 

 flower which had been sent to us. They have, in fact, all 

 the sorts which attract our admiration, and they know 

 how to make use of these varieties so as to form, by means 

 of the China Aster, decorations which words cannot ade- 

 quately describe. To prepare the flowers for this purpose, 

 they grow them in pots ; they then arrange them according 

 to their colour and shades of colour ; and with such a fine 

 art that they display them as a continuous border, with the 

 utmost harmony. " I wished," writes Madame de la Tour, 

 " to form a similar decoration, a noted traveller having said 

 much to me about them ; but there was wanting to secure 

 the full effect, a like profusion of flowers, the vast variety 

 of shades in each colour, which they possessed, and, beyond 

 these, that remarkable Chinese patience, which disregards 

 every difficulty. Still, my little display gave gratification to 

 all, and many were surprised as well as myself, that such 

 decorations were not adopted in our gardens, and more 

 especially in our floral f^tes." 



As the emblem of variety, the China Aster owes its chief 

 charms to successful culture. The skilful hand of the florist 

 has surrounded her golden disc with all the colours of the 

 rainbow. In like manner careful study and mental culture 

 can develope great variety in the character of our natural 



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