, 1889-10-20
cHRYsANrHrMuMs IN CHINA.
Development of the Beautiful Plants In
the Flowery Kingdom.

pie or variously colored flowers. The
native horticulturists have found it
comparatively easy to modify its ap-
pearance and color. There is an old
statement that the Soochcw gardeners
take it when it is a foot above the
ground and pluck off the terminal bud
at the top. After a few days the one
bud originates two. These again are
decapitated and a similar result fol-
lows, so that when autumn arrives
the number of flowers ON the stalk is
very great, and they grow into a sort
Of round hemisphere like a car cover
ing.
It was early discovered that modif-
cations in the flowers could be produc-
ed in this way that led the Chinese to
attach so much importance to this
flower. 1t was about a. D. 400 that it
became a special garden favorite and
was valued by the poets. Tan Yuen
Ming, OF that time, was very fond of
it and a search, especially in mis-
poems, has resulted in the fact that he
rlassed it with the pine for endurance.
The petals remain in their place
after winds and storms, and it was this
feature in the flower which he admir-
ed The Chinese represent yellow as
Nv LdNblbh SOlOI dlld Ilt1 uuu lLldI
white asters, after O year or two, are
apt TO change back to yellow. In some
varieties the flowers are deciduous
and in others not so. A pale yellow
changes to white after the plant has
lowered with unusual luxuriance;
and white, in the same way, when ex-
hibiting a tendency to variation, be-
m red. Such flowers wither on
the stem. When the petals are far
apart they are apt TO fall early, and
after the full period of blossoming
they gradually drop off. If wind and
rain should come and shake them
they all fall off together and cover the
ground. Such minute observation of
u flower as this is an example of the
pains taken by the Chinese in the study
of nature.
The Soochow gardeners mentioned
mean, of course, the gardeners of the
great plain of which Soochow is the
capital, and Shanghai with Taitsang
and Kiang-yin are particularly noticed
rs having a climate or soil, or local
skill in horticulture, which greatly
fayors the variability of the Chinese
aster. From the statement made tits
probable that there is no part of China
where there is more success in cult
waiting the China aster or more va
riety in it than in the gardens of these
cities. There are coarse and fine va
rieties. Some chrysanthemums grow
TO ten feet in length, and some disks
are as largo as n saucer. Two colors
appear on the same flower. These are
called coarse varieties. The finer in
clude velvety sorts and those which
are cylindrical in shape, or turn to the
west, or are indented like wolves
teeth. Those which are most valued
in China are flowers which begin with
being small and grow larger, and pet
ais which are close set, numerous and
fresh in color.
The crysanthemum flower is tabled
by the Chinese TO have the power of
comforting immortality. To obtain
tho result it must be eaten with the
fruit of the wutung by the believing.
In Szechuan there is in the Confucian
temple of the capital of the province
an image Of the genius of the chrys-
anthemum. The being represented
is said to be a girl who drank the wine
of the chrysanthemum flower in the
Han palace and thus became immor-
tai. Those students who pray to her
are successful in the examinations.
In n ave of the same city there isa
painting drawn upon the wall of a
woman holding n chrysanthemum in
her hand. She is called ''The Lady of
the Chrysanthemum," and students
who pray to her have remarkable
dreams. Tho limitations conveyed in
these dreams are, wonderful to relate,
sure to come true, say the native ac-
counts. The chrysanthemum sinense
has probably for two centuries been
well known in Europe. The forets,
whether of the ray or the disk, are
never blue, but they appear with al
most every other possible color. The
books say hat the Chinese for long
ages must have been carefully i'm
proving the plant, and that their great
richness in development and variety
of properties has risen from sporadic
peculiarities and intermixture with
allied species unknown in Europe.
This last effect would be produced by
insects bringing with them in their
visits to the flowers the pollen of
neighboring plants.
The remarkable variability of these
plants is partly due to an excellent
constitution, which allows them to be
easily propagated by cuttings. About
half of the flower heads should be de-
SlTOltu 10 lnCftdSS inc SIG ana beauty
of those which remain. Not being
delicate some kinds will submit to
their stems being pegged down near
the surface of the ground, and the
beauty of a garden plot is remarkable
when the flowers of certain hardy va
rieties are in this way SO restricted as
TO rise only a few inches from the
ground. European gardeners obtain
seeds from widely different localities,
and aim by mixture to rival the hand
soonest varieties introduced from
China. We must subtract the legen-
dairy element generously and recog-
nize a true love of natural beauty in
the great attachment which the Chi
nese have for the peony, the plum
flower and the China aster, which
have been all favorites for 1,400 years
or more This is n of the main
sources of the development of modern
Chinese painting, in which these flow
ers have had as much attention rs bas-
kets of fruit among the painters of
Holland.-North China Herald.