40 PRESENT-DAY GARDENING 



scarlet blooms, known as the single Dahlia, lighted up as it 

 were the darkness that prevailed among the fanciers, and- 

 prepared the way for the cactus and other types. It rapidly 

 acquired popularity as though its charms had been perceived 

 for the first time, and the interest created by its reintro- 

 duction to public notice had the effect of bringing two 

 other single Dahlias into prominence that had long remained 

 in the cold shade of neglect. 



The reintroduction of the single variety known as 

 coccinea was due to the late Mr. Alfred Salter, who, in the 

 autumn of 1874, exhibited blooms at one of the Royal 

 Horticultural Society's meetings at South Kensington. 

 These flowers created much interest, and a demand rapidly 

 urose for varieties with single flowers, so that within a com- 

 paratively short period two others were brought out from 

 the obscurity in which they had so long been hidden, and 

 placed within the reach of cultivators. These varieties were 

 known as Lutea and Paragon ; they possessed much merit, 

 although not comparable with the excellent varieties of 

 more recent introduction. Lutea had, as its name indicates, 

 yellow flowers, and it was probably a survival from the 

 earlier days of the cultivated Dahlia, but there is no trust- 

 worthy information upon this point. Paragon was a specially 

 attractive variety ; the blooms were rather large, of good 

 form, and of a rich maroon colour with a broad purple 

 margin to the florets. This variety was introduced to 

 cultivation about the year 1830, and it was described 

 in a catalogue of Dahlias issued by Appleby, a Doncaster 

 florist, in 1834. It is said to have been found in a 

 botanic garden, but whether this was the case or not, 

 it is evident that it was valued by some cultivators for a 



