448 Retrospective Criticism. 



single fault shall disqualifj^ a whole stand, even if that stand contains a 

 hundred. How then should Mr. C. M. Hovey give his own "mark of 

 approbation" to a flower which he knew, and which every cultivator 

 who pretends to be a judge of the dahlia should know, would, and did, 

 disqualify it for competition. The question at issue is, not that the 

 " fair" Marchioness of Tavistock was a better flower than any of the 

 others which were marked against, but it is that it has not so "'strong" 

 a "resemblance" to the Beauty of Cambridge as to give the latter a 

 preference ! in cultivation. Nothing need have been said, after this, 

 about equal!! beauty. Our remarks were not made because the Mar- 

 chioness of Tavistock was not thought a dahlia superior to all the oth- 

 ers, but because it should have been classed with one of such inferiority 

 as the Beauty of Cambridge. 



The latter part of the letter of Messrs. AValker and Wilder has refer- 

 ence to a subject of which we made no mention; but as they have seen 

 proper to make an attack upon us, we shall briefly reply to their re- 

 marks. 



It is there stated that the " Editor has represented the Princess Vic- 

 toria during the whole season as the best dahlia in this section of the 

 country." Were we to judge from the enconiums bestowed upon it at 

 every show at which it has been exhibited, particularl}^ at the annual 

 exhibition, where it was the most attractive flower in the room, so much 

 so that the Conqueror of Europe, Mary, Juliet, &.c. and others equally 

 fine, were scarcely thought of, much more sought out, it would be sufii- 

 cient to bear us out in this representation. If we estimate it simply as 

 a show flower it will fail for want of size; but if we judge it in any other 

 manner, it still is the best dahlia in this section of the country. We 

 spoke of it as the best because every flower, (which are abun- 

 dantly produced,) upon the plant, is perfect and beautiful; while with 

 such show flowers as Juliet and Mary Queen of Scots, not more than 

 one in ten is fit to remain upon the plant. The markings for the dah- 

 lias cannot be considered as any test of their respective merits. For 

 instance, Dodds's Mary received but one mark, while in England it has 

 gained more prizes this year than any other dahlia. We subjoin the 

 following list of prizes gained by the flowers, marked for, at the shows 

 of two Societies only: 



Dodds's Mary . . 15 

 Juliet . . . . 10 

 Marchioness of Tavistock 6 



Conqueror of Europe 5 



Queen of Scots . . 3 



Exemplar ... 2 



Here we see that the "fair" Marchioness of Tavistock gained more 

 prizes than the Conqueror of Europe, which has been repeatedly stated, 

 by one of the above gentlemen, to be the finest dahlia of the season; 

 the Marquis of Northampton, which received the " mark of approba- 

 tion" of both Messrs. Walker and Wilder, as being the best formed 

 flower, has not, that we have yet learned, gained a single prize this 

 season: we will not, however, again envy their taste, nor blush at 

 SUCH a decision, as that might be considered another attack upon their 

 judgment. 



We have extended these remarks too far; we shall have a few words 

 to say on these same varieties when we hear further from the exhibi- 

 tions in England. But we hope we have shown that, however severe 

 our remarks were, they were made in strict justice. — Cond. 



