68 THE FLORIST. 



never so arranged themselves of their own free will." Such were 

 the exclamations of an enthusiastic lover of flowers, as he discussed 

 with me the merits of a stand of Dahlias I had put up for exhibition 

 in the course of the past autumn, and to which was appended a 

 ticket ])earing the magic words, " First Prizk." 



" My good friend," I replied, " you appear to be labouring under 

 a mistake. You attribute the brilliant condition of these flowers 

 to some ' artful dodge,' some dexterous sleight-of-hand, or some 

 ino-enious system of ' cookery ;' while, in sober truth, their clean 

 appearance is due, in my opinion, solely to the absence of any such 

 devices. These blooms have never been handled or manipulated in 

 any way. Nought except the pure breeze of heaven (and not too 

 much of that) has ever touched their beautiful forms. A very simple 

 instrument, at once a parasol and, to a certain extent, an umbrella, 

 is the sole means by which their complexions have been kept so 

 pure and delicate. I will gladly tell you all about it ; for there is 

 really no art, no secret — in a word, no quackery in the matter." 



But I am becoming prolix, whereas I would simply off"er a very 

 few remarks on the shading of the Dahlia ; a subject of some im- 

 portance to the exhibitor, as, I presume, it will be universally ad- 

 mitted, that no degree of care, no amount of labour, no skill of cul- 

 tivation, could produce blooms fit for exhibition in the present day, 

 unless shading, in some form, is resorted to. I have been a grower 

 and exhibitor (on a small scale) of this magnificent flower for several 

 years, and have tried every description of shading with which I have 

 been made acquainted, with various success. The result of my expe- 

 rience is, that there is no shade so eflicient as moderately coarse 

 canvass (such as drapers use to pack their goods in), stretched over 

 a frame of wire-work, and attached to a stake of fir, by inserting two 

 ends of the wire, projecting horizontally, into equidistant holes in 

 the stake, corresponding with the distances between the said hori- 

 zontal projections ; by this means the cover is held suflEiciently firm, 

 and may be raised or lowered with very little trouble. The advan- 

 tages of this shade are — 



1. It is very cheap and portable. 



2. It wards off completely the rays of the sun without intercept- 

 ing too much light. 



3. It admits of a free circulation of air about the bloom. 



4. It keeps the flower cool, and herein I consider it superior to 

 the tin-cover in use at Slough. 



5. The flower is easily retained in any position that may be de- 

 sired by passing a needle and thread round the flower-stalk through 

 the sides of the canvass, and thus securing it by tying. 



•' But," asks some ready objector, " what about rain } will not 

 a smart shower penetrate your flimsy cover, and sorely bespatter 

 your pet beneath?" Just so; a heavy shower will pass through the 

 canvass ; and after such a shower, 1 o^ten find the bloom covered 

 with " pearly drops." But is it injured thereby .'' I opine not. The 

 force of the rain is broken, and I think the flower benefited, rather 

 than deteriorated, by the gentle bath. Nothing is more easy than 



