At the beginning of the ninth moon the chrysanthemums commence to bud and it was the duty of the ladies of the Court to go and trim them each day by cutting away all the buds except one on each stalk. This trimming gives the flower a better chance of developing, a much larger blossom being the result. Even Her Majesty would help with this work. She was very particular about these plants, and would not allow any of us to meddle with them if our hands were not perfectly cool, as to touch them with hot hands would cause the leaves to shrivel up. These flowers are generally in full bloom about the end of the ninth moon or beginning of the tenth moon. Her Majesty had a wonderful gift of being able to tell what kind of flower would bloom from each separate plant, even before the buds appeared. She would say: "This is going to be a red flower," and we would place a bamboo stick in the flower pot, with the name written on it. Then another, Her Majesty would declare to be a white one and we would place a similar bamboo stick in the flower pot, with the description, and so on. Her Majesty said: "This is your first year at the Palace and no doubt you are surprised at what you have just seen and heard me say, but I have never yet made a mistake. For you will see when the flowers commence to bloom." It was a fact as everything turned out exactly as she had predicted. None of us ever knew how she was able to distinguish one from the other, but she was always right. I did once ask her to explain how she was able to tell but she answered that it was a secret. All this time the portrait was proceeding very slowly and one day Her Majesty asked me how long I thought it would be before it was finished and what the custom in Europe was as regards remuneration for such a portrait. I replied that it was customary to pay very handsomely, but she would not hear of such a suggestion, saying that in China it was not the custom and that it would be regarded as an insult to offer money for such a service. She suggested decorating Miss Carl as a reward for her services, which she considered would be appreciated far more than a money present. There was nothing for me to say at this time but I determined to mention the matter again when a favorable opportunity occurred.