THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF AMERICA. 



863 



there were a whole house, also pineapples, of which there 

 were two houses. It was particularly noted for its neat- 

 ness in every detail. 



Haigh Hall in Lancashire had a good collection of 

 orchids and extensive greenhouses. Melons, cucumbers 

 and string beans were largely grown in the winter, also 

 hundreds of strawberries, some of which were grown on 

 swinging benches near the glass and sod placed under 

 the pots. 



What I ha\c said is a hasty enumeration of some things 

 that were grown in those days, as they come to my 

 recollection. 



The gardener's life in those days certainly was a 

 secluded life, very monotonous, e.xcept occasionally on a 

 Saturday night when we would go to some neighboring 

 bothy to visit our fellow gardeners and remain there till 

 Sunday afternoon, ^^'e had a master gardeners' and an 

 apprentice gardeners" society, but you had to be able to 

 give the grip and password in order to get in. Garden- 

 ing literature was scarce and expensive. Occasionally 

 we got some of writings of N. Thompson, James Den- 

 ham, of Beosmouth, and Alexander Shearer, of Yester. 

 Certainly it was hot stuff. "Thompson's Gardener's 

 Dictionary" was considered the standard work, which 

 every young gardener was ambitious to own. 



I was engaged by ]\Ir. Wally, a seedsman in Liverpool, 

 in 1871 to go to Canada to take charge of a semi-com- 

 mercial place. From Liverpool, taking ship to Glasgow, 

 I waited for two weeks to receive plants consigned to 

 the ship on which I was to embark. These plants con- 

 sisted of fancy Caladiums, Achimenes, Dahlia, Azalea, 

 Chrvsanthemums, Fuschias and stove and greenhouse 



plants in general, also the newest of bedding plants, etc. 

 Arriving at St. John I had to wait two weeks until the 

 river broke up. There I had to rent a portion of a house 

 from a florist to unpack my plants and then pack them 

 up again, when the ice in the river broke up. At that 

 time there were but two places, the one I went to and the 

 Government House. I lived in Canada for two years 

 and then came to the L'nited States. 



The first thing that attracted my attention in the floral 

 line on arriving in Boston were the beautiful roses 

 Bonsilene and Safrano. Here for the first time I saw 

 the real commercial side of the florist's business. The 

 above two roses and Gardenias and Camellias were the 

 staple flowers of the day. Perhaps I might add Tube- 

 roses and miscellaneous stove and greenhouse flowers 

 with croton leaves. 



Now, Mr. Editor, I have not written this as a rem- 

 iniscence of my life, but of things gleaned by the way. 

 Today we are living in a commercial age, an age of out- 

 ward show. The eye of the occupants of automobile or 

 carriage has to be pleased as they ride by, or by the dis- 

 play of roses, carnations and chrysanthemums within the 

 dwellings. 



How few arc the employers that care to walk through 

 their gardens and note the herbaceous plants, or the lowly 

 but beautiful things as in the olden times. Herein is re- 

 finement, fresh beauties to watch over and wait for their 

 coming from mother earth, which to me seems the most 

 delightful of all. 



But small incentive is given the gardener of today for 

 old style gardening; specializing seems the order of the 

 dav. 



The History and Culture of the Dahlia 



By Charles 



Before giving cultural instructions I deem it of suf- 

 ficient interest and importance to briefly dwell on the 

 origin and history of the garden Dahlia. It is now 

 one of the most important of our garden plants, very 

 useful for cut flowers, yet one of the latest to be 

 brought under man's influence and the cultivated 

 forms developed. There is no plant which has yielded 

 so much to the skill of the florist, with the possible 

 exception of the Chrysanthemum; but the limit of the 

 Dahlia's capacity for variation in form and color is not 

 }et reached and interesting developments are yet con- 

 fidently anticipated. 



The history of its introduction is very obscure. It 

 is generally believed that it was first discovered in 

 Mexico by Baron Humlioldt in 1789 and was sent by 

 him to Professor Cavanilles, of the Botanical Garden 

 at Madrid. It w-as the latter who named the plant 

 Dahlia, in honor of Professor .Andreas Dahl, a Swedish 

 pupil of Linnaeus. The original plant bore single 

 flowers with eight ray petals, narrow, sharply acumi- 

 nate and notched at the end, with wide spaces between 

 tlie tips of the rays, giving the flowers a star-like ap- 

 ]jearance. The coloration in the wild species was di- 

 \crsified and so the foundation was laid for the marvel- 

 ous range of colors present in the cultivated form. No 

 cultivated plants show the brilliancy and diversity of 

 coloring found in the Dahlia. 



The tendency to produce double flowers was shown 

 immediately upon being domesticated in European 

 gardens, but it was not until a quarter century later 

 that a pronounced departure towards the double form 

 was attained, a half centurv found Dahlias in the front 



Henderson. 



ranks as garden plants. Their place remains undis- 

 puted up to the present ; in fact, they are growing more 

 popular as their capabilities are being developed. The 

 original double form was what is called "Sliozf," a for- 

 mal, round, stiff', double flower ; next came the "Fancy" 

 type, a section of the foregoing showing variegated 

 flowers. The "Pompon" type is the same as these in 

 form and coloring but smaller in plant and flower and 

 yields flowers more abundantly. The reaction against 

 formalism in horticulture which first manifested itself 

 a half century or so ago affected the Dahlia, and for 

 some years it suffered comparative neglect ; only to 

 surge forward later and achieve an increased popu- 

 larity. This new interest in the Dahlia was awakened 

 by the introduction of the "Cactus" type; developed 

 from Dahlia Jnarczii introduced from ^lexico ; a bril- 

 liant scarlet in color, in form a composite of the "Cac- 

 tus" and "Decorative" types of today, witli foliage 

 more finely cut than the older type, a plant oi more 

 slender and taller Iiabit. The brilliancy of color and 

 something of the shape of the flower suggested the 

 name "Cactus" for the type, not a veiy happy inspira- 

 tion as in the pojiular mind the cactus symbolizes tlie 

 repellant wJiile these beautiful flowers are most at- 

 tractive. The informal grace in form of this type. 

 its wonderful range of coloring in solid shades, as 

 well as blendings of two and more shades in many 

 varieties, added an impetus to Dahlia culture of 

 tremendous force and awakened an interest whicii 

 is world-wide and of growing influence. This type 

 is the most ixipular at present and bids f.iir to con- 

 tinue so indefinitely. Tiic hyl)riclizers of the world 



