io6 



Bulletin 128. 



of two sizes. How much better would it be to have thirty pure, 

 distinct, single colors in forty different forms of expression ! 



There was not a single new or original idea in the evolution of 

 the dahlia until 1873 at the very earliest, and whatever freedom 

 or grace the dahlias now have is traceable to a single plant that 



26. — Grand Duke Alexis. A large dahlia of peculiar form. 



bloomed for the first time that year. Instead of short, stiff, arti- 

 ficially formed rays, this flower had long, loose, flat rays with 

 pointed or twisted ends and the peculiar red that is associated 

 with cacti. This variety was nzmed Jjcarezii, in honor of Juarez, 

 President of Mexico, and first offered for sale in 1874 by a Dutch 

 merchant. This was the parent of the so-called cactus dahlias, 

 a name which seems far-fetched now-a-days. It was the color 



