REVIEWS AND EXTRACTS. 233 



the wind frequently twists the plants and destroys their tops, but the former 

 mode secures them' against all winds, and exhibits the flowers to the greatest 

 advantage: three or four stakes placed angularly round the plant, and the 

 stems tied to them, will also answer the purpose. 



To procure line flowers for floral exhibition some cultivators train the 

 plauU to a single stem, removing all superfluous side shoots, as well as 

 flower-buds, leaving only one or two flowers to expand. The soil should be 

 kept constantly moistened, and when the plants come into blossom manure 

 water should be liberally supplied. It has been asserted that some of the 

 .-potted varieties succeed best in a poor soil destitute of manure, and that 

 s may generally lie insured by removing the self-coloured blossoms as 

 they appear. The luxuriant growth of the plants may be greatly retarded 

 by treading the earth firmly round the roots. "When the soil is of a loose 

 open texture, evaporation should be checked by mulching the plants, and if 

 the soil lie covered with moss the moisture will be more effectually retained, 

 and it will give the borders a neater appearance. 



When the blooming season is near its close, about four inches thick of 

 decomposed bark, or leaf soil, should be laid over the roots, extending two 

 feet round the stem of each plant, to prevent the crown being injured by 

 sharp and sudden frosts. 



Tli.- tubers should be taken up on a dry windy day and the soil carefully 

 shaken olf, so as not to twist the roots. Having been removed to an airy 

 siluation in a shed, they should be placed singly over the floor, till the soil 

 remaining on the- tellers he dry, when they should be laid on shelves secure 

 from damp or frost, and be covered, with, dry sifted tan or grey sand : they 

 will, if so managed, keep perfectly sound till the following spring. 



Choice - Hi!: ■■ or small tender tuhers may be preserved during winter by 



placing them in pots of sandy loam, and giving them at the time of potting 

 a slight watering, keeping them afterwards in a dry situation. 



' RiTERU or a fixe double Dahlia. — The flower should be erect and 

 stand completely above the foliage, for if the peduncle be short, so that the 

 dower be hid among the leaves, it will not be displayed to advantage. 



Form, colour, and size are considered the essential properties of a fino 

 n ihlia, 



1. Form. — All good judges allow that perfection in form consists in the 

 near approach to a hemisphere. The Springlield ltival may be given as an 

 instance of the nearest approximation to a perfect flower: it is, however, too 

 llat in the centre, and the outward petals are reflected. It is essential that 

 the outline should form a true circle, and consequently the petals should be. 

 regularly disposed, rounded, smooth at the edges or rose-leaved, and slightly 

 concave, but not so much so as to let the back of the petals be seen in the 

 front of the flower. Those flowers whose petals are narrow, pointed, notched, 

 or fimbriated, as well as those that are flat or convex, however desirable for 

 the- flower border, are objectionable as show flowers, as are also those which 

 when fully blown exhibit the eye or disk. In some Dahlias the petals near 

 the ci litre converge, and conceal the disk, which when the florets are fully 

 led becomes exposed: these are, therefore, pronounced by florists im- 

 i llowers. 



If tin- hemispherical form be assumed as the point of perfection in tho 

 Dahlia, those llowers would be preferred that rather exceed than fall short 

 of this standard. The Cotmtess of Liverpool has been adduced as mi illus- 

 tration of the former, and Lady Granville of the latter, and the mean bctwuen 

 two examples constitutes an excellent criterion whereby to judge of 

 .'tin n in the form of the Dahlia. 



•J. iiilmir. — As it regards colour, much must depend upon taste, but sell's, 



of whatever colour th«rj may bo, should be bright and distinct, in striped, 



I, lipped, or variegated varieties, the colours should be wvll delined 



. •. petal uniform!} and distinctly marked, Those that are pounced, 

 blotched, furiously ••! irregularly marked, are inadmissible as show flowers. 



■ '•. Size. \\ In n other properties are equal, size will determine the pre- 

 fer, nee; hut in judging o| a gooil Dahlia, form must h:i\e the |ii'e eminence. 



He ii colour, and lastly, siae ; but in no io luld either form or colour 



Vol. II. -J it 



