October SO, 1890. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
871 
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Mssgiwj 
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CHRYSANTHEMUM CENTENARY 
CLEARING THE DECKS. 
= L 
L AST year was evidently regarded by some authorities as the 
hundredth anniversary of the introduction of the present 
race of Chrysanthemums into this country. The plant first 
flowered on the Continent in 1789, and the Belgians were right in 
-celebrating the Centenary last year ; but it was not until the season 
following that the flower was seen in England, and therefore we 
believe the National Chrysanthemum Society to be quite correct 
in their fixture of the forthcoming celebration. The present year 
marks a distinct epoch in the history of this flower, and it is 
fitting that it should be the subject of special attention. A bright^ 
cheery, joyous time the present Chrysanthemum season should be. 
In connection with the National Society, however, the joy must be 
'tempered with the deepest sorrow by the lamented death of its 
laborious Secretary, the late Mr. William Holmes. It is sad that 
=a promising life should be cut short at any time, but in this case 
doubly so, for all felt he was on the eve of the triumph that would 
have rewarded him for his unremitting work. He will not be 
forgotten, for his memory will be cherished, and his name kept in 
long and loving remembrance by hosts of friends. 
Though this is the Chrysanthemum Centenary year, there is no 
precise date more appropriate than another for doing honour to 
ihe event. This must of necessity be governed by circumstances 
and controlled by convenience. The show days of different 
societies will naturally be the celebration days, and these, for obvious 
reasons, must differ. Foreseeing an unusually great campaign 
ahead of more than a hundred floral contests, and the consequen 
claims on our space, w r e have considered it the best, both for our¬ 
selves and our army of Chrysanthemum constituents, to be in 
advance of all the shows in recognising the sei’vices of officers and 
men who have done, and are doing, such excellent work in the 
'Chrysanthemum world. This could not be done adequately after 
the shows begin and their demands for publicity, therefore we clear 
the decks for action. 
It is not our intention to indulge in anything approaching 
sensationalism, but hope in a manner not inappropriate to produce 
a substantial memorial of an eventful year. The ancient history 
of the Chrysanthemum has been written and published repeatedly in 
these pages. In those matters, therefore, we shall not lengthily in¬ 
dulge on the present occasion, and while appreciating the researches 
that have been made in the direction indicated our pleasure now is 
mainly to deal with the work of the present generation and to 
pourtray a few of the workers of to-day—some as organisers of 
societies or secretaries of shows, others as exhibitors who have won 
high honours—all as representative men who assiduously en¬ 
deavour to extend the cultivation of Chrysanthemums in the 
•various districts of the kingdom. 
To summarise an historical reference very briefly it may be said 
that the earliest recorded Chrysanthemum in this country of the 
types now so popular was a small flowered variety of C. indicum, 
which was cultivated by Philip Miller in the Chelsea Botanic 
Harden in 1764, but was subsequently lost, and can only be traced 
by a specimen preserved in one of the large herbaria. The large 
flowered varieties first made their appearance in England in 1790 } 
and numbers of others were introduced in succeeding years, from 
which sprang still later the majority of incurved, reflexed, and 
Anemones, now such favourites. Then we come to an important 
No, 540, —Yol. XXI., Thibd Sebies. 
epoch, the introduction from China in 1846 of the Chusan Daisy 
and Chinese minimum by Mr. Robert Fortune, which in the course 
of some years resulted in the production of the neat and elegant 
Pompons. These, like many others of the family, we mainly owe 
to the French florists, for the “ Chusan Daisy ” was despised or 
ignored in this country until our continental neighbours had proved 
its capacity for variation and range of beauty. 
To Mr. Robert Fortune, however, Chrysanthemum growers are 
still more deeply indebted, for to him are due the first Japanese 
varieties seen in this country, and there can be no question that the 
numberless richly coloured and strangely formed varieties since 
produced have done more to popularise the plant than all previous 
efforts. It was not until 1862 that Mr. Fortune’s Japanese 
curiosities reached England, and then their fantastic appearance, 
so different from that of the varieties prized by the florists, excited 
much unfavourable criticism, and few could have thought that the 
“ Dragons ” and the neat little Laciniatum, still occasionally seen, 
FIG. 42.— MB. ROBERT FORTUNE AT THE AGE OF 54. 
would be the forerunners of so many fine seedlings and introduc¬ 
tions. But again, we are largely indebted to our friends over the 
Channel for a large proportion of the varieties in cultivation at the 
present time. We have much pleasure in giving the prominence 
which is due to the portrait cf Mr. Fortune as a Chrysanthemum 
pioneer. He died in 1880. 
As a raiser of Chrysanthemums, one British name, however, 
stands out prominently, and must be mentioned here namely, that 
of Mr. John Salter, who for nearly thirty years gave close atten¬ 
tion to the improvement of the plant and succeeded in raising a 
large number of valuable varieties, many of which still hold an 
unrivalled position in the lists of incurved. In 1838 Mr. Salter 
took a nursery at Versailles, and from there, and subsequently at 
the “Versailles Nursery” at Hammersmith, his novelties weie 
distributed nearly every year, the majority of which were noted 
at the time in the issues of this Journal frequently by the 
enthusiastic florist, Mr. Donald Beaton. 
To the great army of cultivators who have performed such 
good service in the twenty years all plant lovers are very much 
indebted, for they have proved what great results can be 
No. 2196.—Vol. LXXXIII., Old Series. 
