The most important exhibition types of the large-flowered chrysanthemum: (1) Japanese, with petals variously twisted: petals tending distinctly but irregularly 

 inwards, Japanese incurved: petals distinctly curved downward (as above), Japanese reflexed. (2) Disc surrounded by long petals, large-flowered anemone. (3) 

 Petals regularly arched inwards, incurved or Chinese type 



A Guide to the Chrysanthemum Shows-By I. l. Powell, 



New 

 York 



A CLEAR EXPLANATION OF THE STANDARDS BY WHICH THE FLOWERS ARE JUDGED, THE DIFFERENT TYPES 

 OR SECTIONS AND THE METHODS BY WHICH THE LARGEST FLOWERS AND SPECIMEN PLANTS ARE PRODUCED 



[Editor's Note — Take this article to the flower show, for it will add greatly to your enjoyment and understanding of the beautiful but bewildering fall exhibitions. By 



names of the varieties you like best. Don't take anyone else's judgment. Now is the only time you can select 



all means attend them with a note-book and put down the 



varieties with intelligence. The interesting facts given below are compiled from a forthcoming bo 



on Chrysanthemums by a gardener who has won many prizes at the shows. 



THHERE are two totally different kinds of 

 -1 chrysanthemums. The one that is best 

 known to the amateur, the old-fashioned 

 hardy one that in its many colors adorns 

 the gardens about many an old farmhouse, 

 is small-flowered, seldom exceeding an inch 

 and a half in diameter even under the best 

 of conditions. These were known to our 

 grandparents as artemisias, perhaps because 

 the bruised leaf has an odor very like that of 

 the true artemisia or wormwood. These 

 hardy, small-flowered or pompon kinds have 

 been almost eclipsed by the large-flowered 



The irregular, informal blooms of the Japanese 

 type are preferred for decorations because they are 

 less stiff than the more formal Kinds 



or tender florists' kinds that are grown in the 

 greenhouse and over the perfection of which 

 the contests of the exhibitions 

 centre. 



THE LEADING FLOWERED TYPES 



These large-flowered kinds 

 are of several types, but prac- 

 tically only two main sections 

 are recognized on the tables- 

 the incurved and the so-called 

 Japanese. The first-named are 

 characterized by the graceful, 

 regularly inarching petals; 

 broadly, all flowers that do 

 not thus incurve are classed 

 as Japanese. By far the 

 greater number of the popular 

 favorites of the day are of this 

 type. Among connoisseurs, va- 

 rieties of this section are fur- 

 ther subdivided according to 

 the twist of the individual pet- 

 als, as the Japanese incurved, 

 the Japanese reflexed, and so 

 on. 



The chief interest of the exhi- 

 bitor is always centred on the 

 large-flowered types because 

 they make by far the most im- 

 pressive display. These are 

 grown usually for exhibition 

 purposes, one flower only to 

 each plant. Single-stemmed 

 flowers, as these are called, 

 are grown in pots when they 

 are to be used primarily for 

 decorative purposes on the 

 plant (for instance, grouping 

 with foliage plants) ; on benches 



184 



in the greenhouse when they are to be used 

 cut. You cannot produce the largest flower 

 of which the variety is capable 

 by any other means. 



The single chrysanthemum, 

 charming for table decoration 

 and for cut flowers to be used 

 as table centre-pieces, while not 

 a large factor in the flower 

 shows, maintains a position of 

 steady favor among those who 

 regard flowers purely for their 

 artistic qualities. There are 

 single varieties of the hardy, 

 or pompon, type as well as 

 of the large-flowered. A curi- 

 ous development of the single 

 flowers is seen in the anem- 

 one, in which the disc florets 

 are somewhat enlarged but 

 have not been produced into 

 rays as are those of the mar- 

 gin. There are only two or 

 three varieties of this section 

 commonly in cultivation. 



• 



TRIALS OF PATIENCE 



The greatest skill of the cul- 

 tivator, and certainly the great- 

 est amount of patience, is dis- 

 played in the production of 

 specimen plants, each one of 

 which has to be given individ- 

 ual attention and nursed with 

 most solicitous care from the 

 time cuttings are taken in Jan- 

 uary. The plants that attract so 

 much attention in the exhibi- 

 tion halls are always one-year- 

 Crown to a single stem old plants. For exhibition 



