May.l CHARACTEH OF A FINE DAHLIA. 103 



STRIPED. 

 Striata formoslssima, Multicolor. 



YELLOW TIPPED WITH WHITE. 



Mimosa, The Baron. 



Andromeda, 



The above are the choicest in cultivation at the present 

 time, and for farther description in regard to color, height 

 and price, we beg to refer our readers to the periodical cata- 

 logues of our respectable nurserymen that are issued every 

 spring, and contain many other sorts of eminence; and not 

 a few equally desirable with the above, though the descrip- 

 tions of some that are annually received from England are 

 more tempting than the article. Whether there are some 

 sorts that do produce more perfect and beautiful flowers in 

 their humid climate than they do when transferred to ours, 

 'we cannot practically decide, but presume that it is the fact, 

 for we are confident, and every season does more fully con- 

 firm it, that the seedlings grown in this country from seed 

 sowed here do grow better, and flower finer, than the gene- 

 rality of" those imported; and, to prevent us adopting inferior 

 sorts, and giving them dashing names, we subjoin the follow- 

 ing rules for judging: — 



CHARACTER OF A FINE DAHLIA. 



" The best judges distinguish Dahlias by the three criteria 

 of form, color and size. 



" 1. Form. — The front view of the blossom should be 

 perfectly circular, without notches or inequalities, caused by 

 the petals being pointed, and not, as they should be, rounded; 

 smooth at the edges, and slightly concave, but not so much 

 as to show any of the back. One of the most perfect flow- 

 ers, in this respect, is the Springfield Rival. When the 

 petals are pointed, notched, fringed, piped, quilled, concave, 

 convex, or flat, the perfectness of the circle is broken, and 

 one indispensable beauty in the eye of the florist is deficient. 



