Massachusetts Horticultural Society. 435 



son, when scarcely a flower is to he seen except the chrysanthemum. 

 It deserves to be in every collection of plants. It is also a superb spe- 

 cies for parlor cultivation, requiring but very little attention to bloom it 

 in perfection. — Id. 



Fine Dahlias exhibited this season. — At a late weekly exhibition of 

 the Massachusetts Horticultural Society', at which there was presented 

 a number of fine specimens of dahlias, some discussion arose respect- 

 ing the merits of several of the new ones, which have, to use the com- 

 mon phrase, been sent out this j'ear; and to set the matter at rest, so far 

 as the opinions of the individuals present would do so, it was proposed 

 to decide upon their qualities in the following manner: — the six disputed 

 varieties were set aside; of these the most perfect formed one was to 

 be selected first, the most beautiful show flower next, and the second 

 best show flower the third. About ten cultivators were present, and 

 the decision was as follows: The Marquis of Northampton and Juliet 

 were considered the most perfect formed flowers, the opinions being 

 equally divided between the two; the Conqueror of Europe was con- 

 sidered, by a majority, the best show flower; but the opinions respecting 

 the second best were divided about equal between Mary Queen of 

 Scots, Mary and Conqueror of Europe. We merely notice this decision 

 to state our surprise at the opinions of those who considered the Mar- 

 quis of Northampton superior to Juliet. As regards the real merits of 

 these flowers, it amounts to nothing. In our humble opinion the Mar- 

 quis of Northampton is excelled in form by a dozen other varieties : it 

 always shows a hollow centre, which condemns it at once. Before the 

 spring returns we shall have some observations to make upon these and 

 other fine kinds. — Id. 



Art. IV. Retrospective Criticism. 



Errata. — In our last number, in the Review of the Journal of the 

 Boston Society of Natural History, two important errors occurred. In p. 

 383, line 10 from the bottom, for "number of scavengers" read "hum- 

 bler scavengers" — line 2 from the bottom, for "desirous" read "deni- 



Art. V. Massachusetts Horticultural Society. 



Saturday, September 30th, 1837. — Exhibited. Flowers: From S. 

 Walker, dahlias, scarlet zinnias, f^'erbena chanicedrifoba, G'ladiolus na- 

 talensis, and a variety of fine pansies, among which were the following: 

 — Rainbow, Miss Cushing, (a new seedling, and extremely beautiful,) 

 Napoleon, Othello, Vulcan and Clio; also, fine bon([uets. From S. 

 Sweetser, a variety of flowers. From T. Mason, fine bouciuets. From 

 Hovey &, Co., superb dahlias, among which were Princess Victoria, 

 Marchioness of Tavistock, Mary Queen of Scots, Conqueror of Eu- 

 rope, Mary, Mrs. Broadwood, sulphurea elegans, purple Perfection, 

 Lavinia, Bride of Abydos, Hcrinione, Gem, Rosa superba, Fisherton 

 Rival, (true,) King Otho, Countess of Shetheid and Exemplar. From 



