The sun., 1891-11-08
so,xs oUnsr1oxs or ARE


The Chrysnnthenun SHOW.
We know how to grow flowers In this couh
| try. The big chrysanthemum exhibition hal
| proved this fact very clearly. But It has also
seemed to prove that We have not the fret idef
| how flowers ought to bc looked at.
OF course We have learned to display them
| 10 that gardeners can appreciate how vel
| they have been grown. and 80 that the rest o.
| US. II gifted with lively iancE can divino how
beautiful they must be when properly placed
| before the eye But the chrysanthemum ex.
hibition was not beautiful as whole. nor In
any part OF the vast amphitheatre could one
| md flower or group OF flowers where art In
arrangement had given full playto the beauty
which nature and tho horticulturist had pro.
.dnced hand In hand.
At the orchid show last winter an attempt
was made to give tho amphitheatre the look
Of o garden. and The effect was attractive
enough to hint ut future possibilities Of sue
cess But this year the bright and showy
effect which soma folk rnistook for beauty was
the result simply Of masses OF crude color
spread In all directions Of hundreds OF hang.
ing japanese lanterns. and ut night OF thou
sands Of electric lamps II was painful to
think what japanese would have said to
such o show. He holds his out Of doors.
amid shady arbors and bamboo fences
| and backgrounds OF artistically disposed
foliage. The colors Of his flowers are as
skilfully contrasted Rs the Hnts on O
painters canvas, and his dne specimens are
treated Ike little kings. each standing under
Bilken canopy OF its own He does not bunch
lot Of blossoms Of one sort together and then
put yellow and red and white and pink and
mrple punches side by side on . crowded Ia
Bile. Nor. We may presume. when he wants to
show the special character Of q dozen hne
H,,uporo ho khofr roka
and stick them In holes In Q green board.
What he might have said to such feature -
the sorcalled floral booths" in the middle Of
the floor. really made Of striped cotton. and to
its pretty American girls rendered ahsurd by
pseudo-Japanese array--this We are very glad
we did not hear.
But there was worse thing than this booth,
and 1t had pleased crowd around Il Ill day
long. It was an architectural constructon-A
sort OF shrine with floor. columns. and canopy
entirely composed Of blossoms of svery kind
in patterns Of crudest colors. and In It's centre
an urn built In similar fashion from which
dropped q mass Of more loosely arranged
flowers. This was greatly admired" and
yet We think We know what flowers
ara what beauty "a, what the word art de-
notesi Almost as awful was the sight Of the
shelves where glass and pottery "appro-
pirate for the holding Of flowers were dis
played. Here We failed to discover q single
vase which was really good for its purpose a.
being 6ne In form. lovely In color. and simpls
enough not to kill the effect OF It's contents.
Awful too. were the dinner tahlae decorated
In competition Tor prizes OF many good goldan
ducats The great American love for masses
Of everything was here conspicuously pro-
claimed. It might seem as though nobody
could be too blind to know that II you want
mass Of flowers Of q single color small bios
SONS should be chosen. while II you want to
show big and beautifully formed ones well.
they ought to be placed singly or only one or
two together. and high enough In front Of the
eye for their shape and bearing to oappsar quite
clearly. But on every one Of these tables
mass Of ofchrysanthemums, much too big for the
table. was composed Of the biggest
flowers that could be had And then
the color Of the selected flower. instead
Of being thrown out BY "a contrast was care
fully killed by other surroundings Of analogous
hue On the pink table the color Of the chrys.
anthemums. really delicate and good In ITSELF
was made to Look dirty by the brighter pink Of
, lot Of candle shades. and there were bright
pink bonbons. too. and pink gibbons and
glasses. On another table ane yellow ehrys-
anthemums were set on a piece OF yellow
damask and surrounded by yellow shades and
adornmenta At not one OF these festal boards
could . person with an artistic eye have dined
with comfort He would have felt that the dow
ers were badly chosen for the manner OF THAR
arrangement, and that his host was bar
bartan to think that good color effect"
could be produced simply by heaping together
. lot Of objects more or less alike In hue. Had
any one had the wit to present an ail-whNs
table. with white Chinese vases Of beautiful
outline holding high up each few splendid
flowers OF O single color. We really believe that
the judges might have seen its superiority.
And II an artist had taken such table and as
sorted his blossoms 30 that o varied yet har-
monious chromatic effect was produced. either
BY low masses OF small ones OF by few speci-
mems Of mighty size. We arc sure that even
the people who liked the shrine and the urn
might have stopped to admire it.
Il. then. one considered the beauty Of indivi-
dual varieties. It did not seem as though ths
public or even the judges knew the difference
between bad. good. better. and best In tho
matter Of color. Form they seemed able TO
appreciate. but tint meant little to them ex-
cept as 1t was familiar or was new. With the
exquisite white blossoms and the delicate or
gorgeous yellow ones. and tho splendid dark
red ones. there were others Of dusky pur-
plish pink or Of sickly grayish pink which
seemed to be equally admired bad color In
ohrysanthemums were dlsliked - much a.
p8u budpes eoWo SWOuS Iu6h0 p1Ilk0 &0u puSe |
pies ought never to have got on the tables |
at ALL The queen OF tho show. beyond Q |
doubt, was not novelty It was the |
famous fluffy. feathery beauty MIRA Al. |
pheus Hardy. and surely she had mover |
before been shown in such magnificent |
estate-so big. SO exauisiteIy shaped. 30 very |
nuf1y. and go very feathev. But for all |
the habit Of flower growers. what an In |
artistic nams for SO poetic blossom In gem
era we show little sense Of the fact that there is
an art In nomenclature as In everything else. I
Some Of our chrysanthemums have. indeed. |
received descriptive names. but We have |
not yet ventured On those highly poetic titles. |
like Snow on the Mountain" and .Ten-
-times-sprinkled which
are tho rule with the Japanese And Tor the
most part We content ourselves with calling
the flower after some awkwardly named man
or woman. A newborn babe and a newborn
flower may naturally be associated In the mind.
Yet 1t certainly showed o lack OF Imagination
that as many as forty florists should have