PREFACE 
A number of years ago I became enamored with the stately, large 
incurved types of chrysanthemums as grown by the florists, and began 
experimenting with growing these big-flowering varieties in the open garden 
here. This soon developed into quite a hobby, and finding it expensive to 
be constantly acquiring new (to me at least) varieties to try out, I found 
it not only expedient but necessary that I dispose of my surplus’ plants 
each Spring at popular prices, to help make my hobby self-supporting. 
This explains the little advertisement of mine which you perhaps have 
noticed. 
I found that I can grow them fully as large as the average hothouse 
grown mum, but with not quite the “finish” that is possible under glass. 
This I have done now for several years in my own garden here, right out 
in the open. I have grown practically all of the better known varieties, and 
many of the newer ones, and honestly believe I have as good a private 
collection of these varieties as can be found in the Southeast. I have had 
worlds of pleasure and satisfaction in producing these big blooms in the 
open gardeln, but found out that many new and highly recommended varieties 
did not always come up to expectations; that it is hard to improve upon 
such grand old varieties as the Turners, Pocketts, Snow White, Pearsons, 
and many others, and still retain their size and other good points. This I 
believe is because this type of chrysanthemum is much further along in 
its stage of evolution, and while all varieties have features that could be 
improved upon, the higher a variety is in the scale of its evolution the harder 
it is to obtain a better hybrid. For this reason additions to the truly “big” 
class will be small. 
On the other hand, however, the new pompons, buttons, singles and 
other hardies offer an almost endless field for the hybridizer, and in addition 
even to these, the anemone types add the possibility of marvelous color 
combinations due to their inclination to have the disc one color and the 
ray florets another. I will constantly add to these clashes. 
Of course the latest and greatest advance in the chrysanthemum field 
is the Korean Hybrids. They combine great hardiness to new color pos¬ 
sibilities, and will within the next few years become the favorites 1 over the 
northern portion of the United States for garden culture. From year 
to year 1 will add the best of these varieties to my collection. 
The past Spring I obtained some of the mountain or cascade types 
from Japan and grew them last year. They are the last word in grace and 
daintiness—the stems 1 are long, slender and wiry—in fact, so pliable that 
they may be tied in loose bow knots. When grown in pots or porch boxes 
and allowed to hang over the side they will grow to be 5 or 6 feet long 
by blooming time, when the whole mass will be literally covered with their 
characteristic small blooms. At a distance they give the impression of a 
waterfall—hence their name of CASCADE. There are many colors now be- 
besides the original white—in fact, I found I liked the lavender shades the 
best. 
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