64 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



CHRYSANTHEMUMS IN POTS. 

 By Thomas Stevenson, F.R.H.S. 



[Read March 30, 1915 ; Mr. E. A. Bowles, M.A., in the Chair.] 



Of the many garden plants amenable to pot cultivation, the 

 Chrysanthemum is probably the most popular, owing to the simple 

 treatment it calls for, the diverse colours and varied forms of its 

 flowers, its adaptability to decorative purposes, the lasting properties 

 of its blooms, both on the plants and when cut, and the long season over 

 which the plants may be had in bloom, a carefully-selected collection 

 giving us a wealth of blossom from August to the end of February. 



As a subject for exhibition the Chrysanthemum has for many years 

 enjoyed considerable popularity, and, despite the frequently expressed 

 predictions of its fall from favour, there are to-day more shows held 

 for the express purpose of exhibiting Chrysanthemums than for 

 any other flower, not excepting the Rose. Gloomy indeed would be 

 many of our Autumn Exhibitions, as well as our greenhouses and 

 homes, were it not for the brightness imparted to them by this, the 

 Queen of Autumn Flowers. 



There is not the time, nor is this the place, to deal at length with 

 the history of our subject. That it is a plant of high and ancient 

 lineage is evident from the fact that reference is first made to it 

 some 500 years B.C. But it was at a very much later date that we 

 first hear of its introduction into England, about the year 1764, 

 although it was not till 1795 that its cultivation was seriously taken in 

 hand, since which time it has never looked back, and its evolution 

 has steadily advanced until the present day. 



At the earlier exhibitions of the flower the Pompon and Incurved 

 varieties predominated ; in fact there were no Japanese varieties 

 grown in this country till 1870, when they were introduced by Mr. 

 Robert Fortune. Although they were not well received at the 

 time, it may be said that for all practical purposes they have now 

 ousted the Pompon, Reflexed and Incurved varieties. True we still 

 have a few of the latter at our exhibitions, and some five or six varieties 

 ot Incurved are cultivated in quantity for market purposes, but it is 

 the Japanese and single varieties that are to the fore to-day, and 

 it is with these types of the flower that I propose to deal. 



To-day growers have much to be thankful for, as even within 

 my recollection most of the Japanese varieties averaged from eight 

 to ten feet in height, and with this amount of growth they did not give 

 us anything approaching the size and form of flower which we can 

 now get on plants varying in height from 2 feet 6 inches to 6 feet, 



