CHRYSANTHEMUM : KIKU. 



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plants. There is no particular regulation for its shape, and the more 

 grotesque and bizarre a form it assumes, the better pleased its owner 

 usually is ; but generaUy the petals are harsh in appearance and the 

 centre of the flower is converted into petals. I think this is the original 

 chrysanthemum which was introduced to this country, the descendants of 

 which have been greatly improved by careful cultivation, and are now 

 known in England as the Japanese varieties. I used to cultivate thirty 

 thousand chrysanthemums of different varieties from seed every year, but 

 it was seldom that I was able to select five good specimens out of that 

 number : that is, according to our idea of a perfect flower. 



The cultivation of the chrysanthemum can be divided into two 

 different styles, one adopted by amateur growers, and the other by pro- 

 fessional florists. The method resorted to by the former is more 

 ambitious than that of the latter, and their object is not only to succeed 

 in cultivating those kinds from which it is very difficult to raise good 

 flowers, but in growing also good leaves and regulating the shape of the 

 whole plant. Naturally it is a more costly method than that of the 

 professional. On the other hand, the florist's sole desire is to grow 

 plants which do well when shifted into pots, and to produce brilliant 

 flowers which would appeal to the common taste of the people ; and of 

 course, this being less expensive, answers their purposes better. One class 

 of florists are exclusively engaged in growing pompons which are used 

 for a particular purpose. They hold shows every autumn, where the 

 pompons are exhibited not merely for the display of their blossom, but 

 also for decorating figures and miniature landscapes of many descriptions. 

 The scenes are generally taken from the plays at the theatres, the figures 

 in them being commonly those of popular actors or sometimes notable 

 people of the day. To carry this out, the pompons are planted in a 

 tolerably open ground, and as soon as the flower buds become visible they 

 are shifted to places where the stems and branches of the plants are 

 twisted all over the skeleton frames of figures and the framework of land- 

 scape scenery, so that when the plants come into blossom they will 

 portray in flowers the person and scene which it is intended to represent. 

 Dango-saka Street is a noted place in Tokyo for these exhibitions, and the 

 shows, which are held in the florists' own gardens, draw a considerable 

 number of people, and the place is one of the pleasure-grounds in the 

 autumn for holiday-makers. 



Amateur Methods of Cultivation. 



Zuhuri (Giant Plant). — This method is to cause a single plant to 

 grow as large as possible and make it bear more than a thousand flowers. 

 One of my friends succeeded in cultivating a plant of the same species 

 and was rewarded with a gold medal at the Paris Exhibition. The kind 

 to which this method is applied is either the O-giku or Chu-giku, both of 

 which have been already referred to, and a careful selection is imperative 

 to ensure a plant thoroughly capable of immense growth. The strongest 

 cutting should be taken from the parent plant during November and 

 planted in a sheltered bed or frame, and allowed to remain there until the 

 following April. In May it must be shifted to the flower-stand. The 



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