6 
THE FLORIST AND P0M0L0GIST. 
[Jakcaht, 
were both double and single forms. In 1764 
a plant of the small yellow variety was grow¬ 
ing in the Apothecaries’ Botanic Garden at 
Chelsea, but was so little prized that in a few 
years it was lost sight of altogether. This 
was, no doubt, the typical C. indicum; it was 
represented as being a dwarf branching plant 
about eighteen inches high, with small flowers 
the size of a Feverfew. 
In 1789, an enterprising French merchant, 
M. Blanchard, of Marseilles, imported three 
varieties from China, the white, the purple, 
and the violet; only one, however, the purple, 
reached France alive. To him, therefore, 
belongs the honour of introducing the large- 
flowered variety into Europe. In the follow¬ 
ing year (1790), a plant of the purple variety, 
the first large-flowered Chrysanthemum known 
in this country, found its way into England; 
it was procured from M. Cels, a celebrated 
nurseryman in Paris, and was treated as a 
greenhouse plant. In November, 1795, it 
bloomed in the nursery of Mr. Colville, in the 
King’s Road, Chelsea, and was regarded as a 
decided acquisition. The flowers were about 
the size of a carnation semi-double, of a pur¬ 
ple colour. The success which attended the 
introduction of this flower, as well as its per¬ 
fectly novel character, induced some of our 
own countrymen to seek for other varieties 
from China; and their endeavours were 
crowned with success, so that from 1798 to 
1822 some thirty-six colours or varieties were 
introduced, there being in 1826 no less than 
48 varieties cultivated in the Horticultural 
Society’s Gardens at Chiswick, the largest 
collection in Europe, only fifteen varieties 
being known in France at that date. 
Up to this time it does not appear that any 
attempt had been made to save seed either in 
France or England, but in 1830 seed was 
saved in the south of France, and the produce 
was of a totally different character from the 
original varieties. I am proud to state that in 
or about 1830 Mr. Isaac Wheeler, gardener 
and porter at Magdalen Hall (now Hertford 
College), Oxford, was successful in saving 
seed, and in raising seedlings. These were 
grown at Beaumont Buildings, in this city, 
and on December 2, 1832, he exhibited the 
same in London, where he received the Silver 
Banksian Medal for seedling Chrysanthemums, 
supposed to be the first seedlings raised in 
Europe, but certainly in England. The 
medal and a drawing of one of the plants is 
still, and may be seen, in the possession of a 
member of the Wheeler family in Oxford. 
Thus it happens, that the Oxford Chrysanthe¬ 
mum growers have a prestige to keep up, and 
right heartily is it done. English seedlings 
were raised by Mr. Short and Mr. Freestone, 
in Norfolk, in 1835, about which period an 
amateur in Jersey turned his attention to the 
Chrysanthemum, and raised about 500 seed¬ 
lings, which were purchased by Mr. Chandler, 
of the Yauxhall Nursery. 
In 1838, Mr. John Salter took up his 
residence at Versailles, near Paris, and find¬ 
ing the climate of that locality suited to the 
Chrysanthemum, he imported from England 
all the Chinese varieties, and all the Norfolk 
and Jersey seedlings. Shortly afterwards 
about 250 French kinds were added, so that 
in 1840 his collection numbered 400 varieties. 
In 1843, seedlings began to be raised at the 
Versailles nursery, and the first fruits of many 
succeeding years of labour were Annie Salter, 
Fleur de Marie, and Queen of England. Time 
would fail to mention the varieties raised in 
this, and the few subsequent years; suffice it to 
observe that Prince of Wales was one of the 
pioneers of the incurved section, and still 
continues a useful variety. 
In 1846 a new era in the history of this 
flower commenced, for at that time Mr. For¬ 
tune brought from China two snail-flowered 
sorts kn own as the Cliusan Daisy and Chinese 
Minimum. These were similar in size and 
appearance to the indicum of Linnasus, and 
would probably have shared the fate of their 
predecessors had they remained in England, 
being too small to suit the taste of the Eng¬ 
lish, but at the Versailles Nursery the little 
Chusan Daisy became a favourite. From 
these two have sprung all the pompons now 
in cultivation. In 1846 the first public ex¬ 
hibition of Chrysanthemums was held at Stoke 
Newington, the society founded there being 
the oldest in England. A show was also held 
at Portsmouth in 1849, since which date nearly 
every town of importance has had its exhibi¬ 
tion, our Oxford shows dating from 1863. In 
1860 Mr. Salter’s collection numbered 750 dis¬ 
tinct varieties, comprising 500 large-flowered, 
