Dahlias. 119 



rorm of the female parent and the color of the male parent was 

 modified to a deep scarlet. However, the flower faded badly. 

 Vnis seedling was now crossed with Cochineal, a ball-shaped 

 flower of rich unfading dark red. Cochineal' s only defect was an 

 open center of yellow, and the flowers were only medium-sized. 

 The rich dark red of Cochineal did not prevail in the cross, but the 

 fading habit was eliminated in the product which is called Wm. 

 Ag7iew (Fig. 30). The flowers are uniformly very large, of semi- 

 cactus type, and of a fine intense scarlet orange color. The trace 

 of orange thus subtly infused into the flower makes it a lively 

 color in sun or shade. This variety was no earlier than the cactus 

 sorts at Ithaca last year, but Mr. Peacock says it is a month 

 earlier than the rest. This unexpected trait he cannot account 

 for, but it is one of the greatest importance as the cactus sorts are 

 often a month behind the old school dahlias in their blooming 

 time. 



Siiggestio7is for plant-breeders. — i. The lengthening of the 

 season of the dahlia is one of the most striking examples of its 

 plasticity in cultivation. When dahlias were first introduced 

 they bloomed for barely a week or two before frost. Now, they 

 ought to be in bloom by the fourth of July and some of them at 

 least can be made to blossom continously from June 15th. The 

 cactus varieties were on the average a month later than the rest 

 at Ithaca, in 1896, and their season needs lengthening. 



2. The ugly stakes must go. Already we have a race of 

 single and pompon varieties that need no stakes to support them. 

 Four feet is high enough for any dahlia plant. The cactus varie- 

 ties particularly are inclined to be too tall and straggling. 



3. While dwarfing in general is desirable, there is one kind of 

 it that seems to me mistaken. Triomphe de Solferino is typical of 

 a class used for bedding. It has huge flowers, coarse and flat- 

 tish, and out of all proportion to the amount of foliage. I enjoy 

 looking at cabbages, — in a cabbage plantation. I see no beauty in 

 abnormally large flowers on abnormally dwarf plants. Here 

 again nature gives the hint. The tendency to pompons means 

 that a large number of small flowers is more in harmony with a 

 compact plant than a few very large ones. I believe that extreme 

 dwarfing of show varieties ib mistaken craft and false art. The 



