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Annals of Horticulture. 



though Horticultural Hall was well filled with plants on that 

 occasion, only one collection was what is known as "pot- 

 grown." The balance had been grown in the open ground 

 all summer and lifted and potted a few weeks previous to the 

 day of opening the show. It seems hardly credible to the 

 chrysanthemum expert of to-day, without reflection, that such 

 rapid strides could have been made in so short a time. In all 

 well-regulated chrysanthemum communities it would now be 

 considered the height of absurdity to even think of growing the 

 plants in any other way than in pots all summer for exhibi- 

 tion purposes. 



When about twenty-five or thirty new varieties were an- 

 nounced by H. Waterer, as having been received from Japan 

 in the autumn of 1883, much interest was aroused in horti- 

 cultural circles. If I remember correctly, water-color paint- 

 ings accompanied the consignment, and the plants were 

 numbered. Whether the varieties were labeled carelessly 

 or became mixed in transit will never be known, but it is 

 certain that there were deplorable mixtures when the plants 

 flowered the following fall. Several sets were exported to 

 Europe, and as a consequence, great dissatisfaction resulted. 

 The mistake was made in distributing the varieties before they 

 had flowered in this country. The error has not been re- 

 peated, for all chrysanthemums imported from any country 

 are now flowered, and carefully compared with existing varie- 

 ties before they are offered to the public, and great care is ex- 

 ercised in keeping them true to name. Had Mr. Waterer 

 held back his collection until each variety had flowered, his 

 profits would have been far greater, for the majority of the 

 varieties were so much superior to anything in that line 

 heretofore imported from Japan, that after they had been exhib- 

 ited, the sales for them would have been limited only to the num- 

 ber of plants propagated. They were all distinctively Japanese 

 varieties, though representing different types. Mrs. Charles 

 H. Wheeler was a great improvement over anything that had 

 been known in chrysanthemums. Its constitution is not of 

 the strongest, but when seen in good condition it always 

 leaves a favorable impression. Mrs. Frank Thomson, though 

 not of the type which meets with the most favor in England, is 

 nevertheless one of the best for this climate, being a healthy 

 grower and freely producing its very large flowers. It is con- 



