The Sun.
London, England, 1862-11-10 00:00:00

CHRYSANTHFMUM SHOWS.

The Chrysanthemum will be again, for a short sea-
son, the subject of general admiration, and we shall
all feel that of late years we have been unjust to this
queen of the autumn. There is to be no great show
at the Crystal Palace—none at Kensington ; and
some of the once most flourishing local societies have
passed away, leaving " not a rack behind." No !
they have left in the minds of all who took part in
them some regrets that the chrysanthemum was
ever allowed to decline in popularity. A succession
of bad seasons was, no doubt, one great cause of the
decline of the societies, and the extinction of the
great exhibitions; but no doubt there is another
cause for the diminution of local interest in this
charming flower, and that is the want of a " con-
necting link" between one autumn and the next—
something to keep the members together as friends
and neighbours ; something to be done by them
" all the year round." What should that connecting
link be? A thousand plans might be suggested for
sustaining the interest and good-fellowship first en-
listed in the cause of a chrysanthemum show. We can
think of none better than occasional meetings to hear
letures, read and discuss essays, compare notes of ex-
perience, and cultivate feelings of friendship. " Ah,"
says the curious reader," if you do all this, the idea
of a crysanthemum society is at an end." Why should
that be? Bat suppose that is the ease ;if the
chrysanthemum society can be expanded into some-
thing better, why not expand it, and have the best
thing of the kind obtainable ? We confess we should
sooner support a gardener's society, having for one
of its objects to promote the culture of the chrysan-
themum, than a society devoted to the chrysanthe-
mum and "nothing more." We have seen in num-
berless instances that when the show was over the
enthusiasm it awakened cooled down. As the
season came round again it might revive; but if in
the end the season proved a bad one, as in 1860, it
did not come up to its former standard, and having
once fallen from its first estate, the society never re-
covered. Probably there are very few of our readers
who cannot testify from their own experience to
the truth of this view of the case. The remedy is
obvious. Instead of establishing societies for the
chrysanthemum only, let the energies of the pro-
moters be bestowed in establishing societies for
mutual improvement among gardeners, giving the
chrysanthemum as large aplace as posible in their pro-
gramme. Then you have co-operation of many who
are not growers of chryanthemums; there is a bond
of unity among men of the same craft, though they
mearvyahlsa,ve very various tastes and be very differently
toccupied.it
wouldlnsteadh
e ohfeat t
efer to frequently
qaut distantet ly;
and in-
tervals,
there is any lack of entertainment, much real
good might be done by the simple reading aloud of
some portion of a book on gardening, articles from
horticultural journals, and books of an entertaining
class not horticultural. Gardeners seem to be too
much given to the idea that when they meet they
must of necessity talk about gardening. The more
uthhauletlyi
itais can
g by
improve each other in the pursuit of their
means of associating together the better ;
sometimes pleasant and profitable to get
out of one's customary groove and give the mind
an entire change of entertainment. One of the
ancients talked about the pleasure Ipeasure of getting out of
think.a
science,
crit
idea
okoccasionally applies
of travels, t o
w ewould a
generalE
soon
see a
criticism,
one's ela'srge; bodywt we all
want The
changecompanyboofgvaarlade, his-
tory,ner
gardeners
listening to a reading from a ,
or humour, as lis-
f
tening to a lecture by Mr. Pomologus on the pro-
perties of a crop of pears gathered from
a flagstaff.
wou
w hy
h cry-
says a proverb.
T
those who meet in the first instance to exhibit
chry-
santhemums migs eumosf certainly
should occupation
no
g good
is e
reasont,
to be found
not continue their meetings f.'r
the rest of the year, that the interest already
awakened may be kept alive, and directed to some
useful and agreeable purpose.—Gardeners' Weekly
Magazine and Floricultural Cabinet.