The Gardening Department of the American Woman's Club had the opportunity of listening to a talk on chrysanthemums by Mrs. Alex. Samson on Tuesday morning. Mrs. Samson has cultivated chrysanthemums in Shanghai for several years and the information sha had to give was exceedingly valuable for that reason. The meeting was held in Mrs. Gardner Crane's garden where the chrysanthemum bloom is prolific and afterwards the ladies visited Mrs. Samson's beautiful garden. In giving a brief historical sketch of this "glorious flower of the East," the speaker said that the original parents were small in size -even og compared with the Michaelmas daisy. In 1746 the first plants arrived in Europe but they did not appeal and it was not until plants of the large type were sent to the Royal Horticultural Society in England from Shanghai in 1843 that they became. popular -there.
She gave directions for the cultivation of the plants, for single blooms.and for the bush plant, the following for the former. As soon as the blooms' are over, the stem should be cut down) to within a foot of the soil and the plant transplanted from pots into beds. In the middle of April, cuttings may be taken and set into another bed about nine inches apart covering with bamboo blinds from the sun in the daytime for about a fortnight. In September they are transplant, ed into the beds or pots in which they are to flower. Liquid manure is given at intervals of 10 days and later at intervals of three days prior to the flowers opening. The crown bud forms in May and two or more branches form below which must be cut off if the bud is required to develop. However, in Shanghai the terminal bud is generally the one which is developed.
The so-called Japanese chrysanthemum had its origin in China but is called Japanese because of the cultivation of that type of flower with a light, airy and graceful appearance. The more formal "'ball flowers" have been cultivated by the Chinese to a greater extent.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.