BORDER CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 
283 
use as cut flowers, and those who have been privileged to see some 
of the great cut-flower producing establishments have not only 
marvelled at the enormous number of plants grown, but also at the 
high standard of cultivation, and I should certainly like to see this 
class of Chrysanthemum taken up with more enthusiasm by the 
private gardener and amateur generally. 
At the present time there is unlimited choice of varieties, as during 
the past fifteen to twenty years much progress has been made, and 
many good raisers have worked hard to improve them. 
Previous to this, however, the number of good varieties was very 
limited, and the date of flowering of most of them was rather too 
late for them to be termed early-flowering Chrysanthemums. The 
comparative hardiness and the power of frost resistance possessed 
by these short-petalled varieties, however, were great, and even as 
recently as last year I saw some of them flowering away quite freely 
in December, and when on a visit to Scotland a year or two ago, 
about the third week in November, practically every garden by the 
roadside had masses of these old, as well as some of the newer 
varieties in bloom. This is only an instance or two of their hardiness ; 
much more, however, may be said of their general usefulness, and 
I hardly think I should be exaggerating if I said that Border Chrys- 
anthemums can be grown wherever there is a small garden or borders, 
and I have seen quite good displays in such poor receptacles as herring 
boxes. Furthermore, they are not averse to the conditions prevailing 
in large towns, in fact they seem to revel in a smoke-laden atmosphere, 
and many of the finest displays of Border Chrysanthemums I have 
seen have been in the smoky districts in and around London. 
Several of the London parks and open spaces have been and are 
still noted for their annual displays of Chrysanthemums both under 
glass and in the open beds and borders, and it must be a pleasure 
to those responsible to see how thoroughly their efforts are appreci- 
ated by the great numbers who visit the parks during the time they 
are in bloom. 
If under such conditions Border Chrysanthemums will make a 
good and lasting show, how much better should they be where the 
nature of the soil, climate, and atmospheric conditions are ideal ! 
Gardeners generally would do well to try to emulate the example 
set by the market growers whose plants are perfect specimens of 
good cultivation and the flowers such as would lend themselves to 
any scheme of decoration. 
The Border Chrysanthemum is no new type of the flower, though 
it has been improved almost out of knowledge both as regards the 
date of flowering and in the number and beauty of the varieties. 
Mr. Harman Payne, in a paper on the subject in 1906, mentioned 
that the first early-flowering Border Chrysanthemums made their 
appearance in this country in 1852. These were no doubt Pompons- 
In 1865 Mr. John Salter gave a list of fifteen summer-flowering 
varieties in his work, " The Chrysanthemum — its History and Culture." 
