of Dahlias. 127 



English have very far exceeded the Continental growers. Be- 

 fore the properties of a dahlia were established by the English 

 gardeners, a double one, no matter how irregular its petals, was 

 considered as a flower of great beauty. Acres of seedlings are 

 now grown every season. 



In this country few persons have attempted to produce seed- 

 lings, with a view to raise those which would excel the English 

 varieties. Mr. Buist and Mackenzie of Philadelphia, and Mr. 

 Feast of Baltimore, are, we believe, the only growers who have, 

 as yet, produced any that are remarkable: those of Mr. Buist 

 are highly spoken of, (vol. Ill, p. 457,) and some of Mr. Mac- 

 kenzie's were exhibited last season, and commanded a great deal 

 of admiration. The encouragement is not sufficient here to 

 warrant their growth. In England, where there is such a num- 

 ber of the trade to supply, a superior new variety is sold at the 

 liberal price of £10, and the whole stock of a kind, unless very 

 extensive, is seldom ever sufficient to supply all demands. It is 

 there made a profitable business, while, with us, such practices 

 are generally confined to amateurs and others, who have plenty 

 of leisure time, and who raise new varieties for their novelty, 

 rather than their intrinsic value. Still, we believe, the time is at 

 hand when our own gardens will produce dahlias equalling the Eng- 

 lish. The demand is rapidly increasing; and when the dahlia 

 shall be as generally cultivated as in England, and the same en- 

 couragement afforded by our Horticultural Societies, we may 

 expect first rate American varieties. 



We have said that the cultivation of the dahlia was of the 

 most simple nature. We have seen the plants flourishing in dry 

 soils and wet soils, in exposed and sheltered situations, in sunny 

 and shaded aspects, and without the least care, and apparently 

 in such splendor as to force one to believe that there is no ne- 

 cessity of extra pains to procure an abundance of blossoms. 

 We have also seen them in the same soils, the same situation, 

 and nurtured with unusual care, as barren of flowers as if it was 

 not the nature of the plants to produce any. Like almost every 

 plant with which we are acquainted, they often present these pe- 

 culiarities of culture; but that the roots have a preference to par- 

 ticular soils and situations, in which they will invariably flourish, 

 is as certain as that they can be made to grow at all. 



In detailing our mode of cultivation we shall divide our sub- 

 ject into several heads, in order to be more distinctly understood. 

 These will be as follows: — Soil and situation; Mode of propa- 

 gation; Planiing the roots; Summer management. Pruning, &c.; 

 Taking up the roots, and best method of preserving them during 

 winter. 



Soil and situation. — Soil is the most important thing, in our 

 opinion, in the cultivation of the dahlia: something depends on 



