296 THE METROPOLITAN DAHLIA SOCIETY. 



THE METROPOLITAN DAHLIA SOCIETY. 



"W"e have much pleasure in stating that a considerable number of nur- 

 serymen and amateur Dahlia growers, in conjunction with Mr. Glenny, 

 are forming in London, upon a large scale, a Society bearing the 

 above title. The meeting for the arrangements of the schedule of 

 prizes will take place in Januarys, on the day of the annual meeting of 

 the horticulturists of Great Britain. About fifty members are already- 

 enrolled, the trade members subscribing five guineas annually, and the 

 amateur members half a guinea. Several persons of distinction have 

 become patrons, and it is certain that, the object being single and 

 popular, the greatest harmony will prevail. A proof of this has fully 

 appeared in the Dahlia exhibitions which we have visited the past 

 season, where the greatest cordiality and delightful interest prevailed. 



In recent copies of the Edinburgh Weekly Journal, we observe 

 some articles from Mr. Glenny^, who conducts the horticultural depart- 

 ment of that newspaper, relative to the necessity of forming such a 

 Society, and its advantages to the floral public. Adverting to the late 

 dissolution of the Metropolitan Society of Florists, it is stated : — 



" There was a time when the Metropolitan Society of Florists com- 

 prised the flower of the nurseiy business and the best of the amateur 

 cultivators; but twelve or fifteen leading men, who were, in 1832, the 

 ornament of the science, have departed this life, and broken so many 

 links of a chain that could not be repaired. The Society encouraged 

 the cultivation of florists' flowers, not of one kind, but of all kinds. 

 When there were as many Pink, Pansey, and Tulip growers as there 

 were of Dahlia cultivators — when the Rose, Geranium, and Ranunculus 

 had their sliare of admirers — when the Carnation and Picotee were 

 supported with as much zeal as any^ other subject, then there was no 

 difficulty, because tliere was no jealousy ; but of late years the Dahlia 

 growers have so far preponderated tliat they were naturally sore at the 

 expenditure among Panseys, Pinks, and Tulips, of funds that they con- 

 sidered to belong to the more popular flowers, and, seeing this, there 

 was but one way to meet the exigency and save the science from 

 degradation. The constitution of a society that was all it ought to be 

 when floriculture Mas in the shade, ceased to be so when it had set the 

 example to hundreds of other societies that sprung up all around it. 

 Each flower now has its enthusiasts and its societies. No mixed objects 

 can be entertained where the flowers find their own funds. The horti- 

 cultural and botanical associations take no entrances, ask for no sacri- 

 fices, and as they invite people to compete for prizes, without charging 

 them any entrance fee, there will always be plenty to show (as people 

 Avould take lottery tickets as a gift), and wait with patience for the 

 award of the judges (as the ticket holders would for the drawing of the 

 blanks and prizes). The awards only stand for so much luck, good or 

 ill, as the case may be. Nobody feels it any discredit to lose, or 

 honour to win ; but as a matter of profit, without the chance of a loss, 

 the thing miglit go on for years, without any disparagement. 



" When, however, a society is looked up to as an authority — when, 

 in a general May, it is an honour to be a winner, and a slur to be far 



