Plate 195. 



JAPANESE CHRYSANTHEMUMS— 1. "CRY KANG." 2. " DR. MASTERS." 



The fine blooms of Japanese Chrysanthemums represented on this plate have not been 

 selected for their positive newness, but for the very excellent form in which they have of 

 late been grown and exhibited by Messrs. Veitch and Sons, of Chelsea, to whom we are 

 indebted for the opportunity of presenting this plate to our readers. 1, " Cry Kang," was 

 originally sent out by Messrs. E. G. Henderson and Son, of St. John's Wood, of whom 

 Messrs. Veitch and Sons received it about two years ago ; and 2, " Dr. Masters," has 

 now been in cultivation for some time, and it was, we believe, originally sent out either 

 by the late Mr. Salter or by Mr. Turner, of Slough. No year passes but these varieties 

 are brought to a greater pitch of perfection, and two more distinct, handsome, and richly- 

 coloured varieties of Japanese Chrysanthemums it would be difficult to name. 



In an excellent essay on the history of the Chrysanthemum published in the 

 Gardener's Chronicle for October 30th last, the writer of the paper says that the plant 

 has always been held in great esteem in its native land, and that all early travellers in China 

 and Japan have been struck with the beauty and variety of its blossoms, and refer to it 

 as one of the characteristic plants of the region. We learn that Gemelli, who travelled in 

 China in 1696, observed the Chrysanthemums there grown between rows of bricks to make 

 fine walks, and Thunberg saw the plant in a wild state in the neighbourhood of Nagasaki. 

 Perhaps the oddest use of the flowers is that to which they are put by the people of Jeddo, 

 where the tea-gardens are adorned with " imitation ladies " made up of these blossoms. 

 "Thousands of flowers," says Mr. Fortune, "were used for this purpose; and as these 

 artificial beauties smiled upon the visitors out of the little alcoves and summer-houses, the 

 effect was oftentimes rather striking." Mr. Fortune also mentions a method of growing the 

 Chrysanthemum which, as far as we know, has not been attempted among ourselves ; they 

 are grafted upon the thick stems of a species of Artemesia, and are then trained as standards, 

 after the manner of our standard Roses, growing with great vigour under those somewhat 

 singular circumstances. 



Plate 196. 



DENDROBIUM AINSWORTHIL 



Dendrobitjm Ainswoethii is another hybrid Orchid of first-rate excellence ; it comes 

 from the collection of Dr. Ainsworth, of Broughton, Manchester, and is a hybrid raised by 

 Mr. Ainsworth's gardener, Mr. Mitchell, between D. heterocarpum and D. nobile. It was 

 no less than seven years before the seeds (which were sown on a block of wood) produced 

 flowers. When exhibited before the Royal Horticultural Society it received a first-class 

 certificate. Our illustration only shows a very small portion of the plant, and nearly all the 

 foliage has (from the smallness of the plate) been omitted. It will probably take some years 

 before a good stock of this novelty is obtained, but there can be no doubt it is a hybrid 

 Orchid of the first-class. 



Mr. Thomas Moore, in writing of Orchid hybrids, says : — "The veil which at one time 

 seemed to shroud the question of hybridising Orchidaceous plants, and which in bygone 

 times few cultivators besides Mr. Dominy succeeded in lifting, must now have been rent in 

 twain, seeing that hybrids of Orchids are appearing from various quarters " Dendrobium 

 Ainsworthii is by no means the least beautiful or interesting of these " art union " pictures 

 which have been exhibited to an appreciative public. 



