192 THE RIVAL YELLOW DAHLIAS. 



ARTICLE V. 



THE RIVAL YELLOW DAHLIAS.— " ARGO," "DEFIANCE," AND 



" HENRIETTA." 



BY AN AMATEUR GROWER OF DAHLIAS. 



Though a subscriber, I bave never hitherto ventured to occupy your 

 pages, and even now the request to be allowed to do so is made with 

 great reluctance. As an ardent admirer of the Dahlia, however, 

 I am anxious to make a few remarks on the rivalry at present exist- 

 ing amongst the above-named varieties. "War to the knife" has 

 been waged, and we may soon expect to have the victor proclaimed. 

 At the outset I will premise that I write with no desire to injure the 

 claims of one or other in the forthcoming contest ; for, though 

 I am not entirely without an opinion on their individual merits, yet, 

 being anxious that the attempt on the part of the patrons of their 

 respective favourites to bring them into fair competition should not 

 be prejudiced, I feel I shall, by abstaining from the expression of 

 that opinion, only second the wish of every impartial person to see 

 them placed solely on their own merits, and not on the fluctuating 

 ground of private, and perhaps party opinion. The object rather 

 which I — in common I trust with every one — have in view, is to 

 obtain such a trial of the merits of these dahlias as shall at once 

 satisfy the public of their relative position. 



At present how does the question of superiority stand? We 

 have WidnalPs Argo, Cox's Defiance, and Begbie's Henrietta, 

 each pronounced " the most perfect and certain yellow dahlia yet 

 raised !" Each grower represents his yellow dahlia as the best ! 

 How, under such circumstances, could a person who had perhaps 

 never, previous to the commencement of this season, seen one or the 

 other, select the best, in case he was desirous of having only one ? 

 He must either have left the selection to the caprice of others, or have 

 been content to await the decision of the present season. The ques- 

 tion then comes, how is this decision to be obtained ? Only by 

 frequent competition, and under circumstances where all possible 

 ground for obtaining an undeserved premium can be removed. 

 Several proposals have been made to bring these competitors face to 

 face at the principal exhibitions, and some challenges have been 

 publicly given by growers of one variety to growers of the other 



