Toin through New York, 6fc. 45 



be bettor to defer planting until the appearance of rain 

 again, when they should be set out. Now although this 

 might not be till the middle of July, much better blooms 

 would be obtained in September. IJut if April and May 

 had been rather dry months, then June would be the best 

 period to plant out. Dry weather, if of long continuance, 

 immediately after planting out, injures the plants seri- 

 ously for the whole season, and often renders them a prey 

 to red spiders and other insects. Mr. Maynard, in corrobora- 

 tion of this, showed us a small lot of dahlias, which were 

 not planted out till August, and they were now coming into 

 flower stronger and better than those planted early. Our 

 remarks of course apply to dahlias set out for prize flow- 

 ers. As ornaments of the border, for general cultiva- 

 tion, they had better be set out in May and a second plant- 

 ing made later. 



Garden of Mr. Kent. — Mr. Kent, though professionally a 

 market gardener, has one of the finest collections of dahlias 

 in the vicinity of New York, and his success in growing 

 them appears to equal, if not surpass, any of the amateur 

 cultivators in the neighborhood. The Fair of the Ameri- 

 can Institute had been opened on the 10th of October, and 

 as Mr. Kent had filled one of the stands, his flowers were 

 principally cut to replace those which had faded. But 

 notwithstanding this we found many very superior blooms 

 remaining, and some of them the rarest varieties. Oak- 

 ley's Surprise was opening a splendid flower ; Sir R. Sale, 

 a fine purple variety, was also expanding a superb bloom ; 

 the Emperor of China, a very good, second rate flavor, 

 with exquisite blooms, of Widnall's Queen, Dowager Lady 

 Cooper, Bridesmaid, &c. Mr. Kent obtained, and merito- 

 riously too, the gold medal of the Institute for the finest 

 collection exhibited at the last fair. 



Mr. Kent has raised a number of seedling dahlias, and 

 some of them proved to be fine varieties, particularly a 

 yellow, raised from Argo, which has the fine color of the 

 parent, and a much better formed flower. Mr. Kent, how- 

 ever, informed us that Argo was a poor variety lo raise 

 seedlings from, as he found them to partake too much of 

 the bad habit of growth, &c. of the parent; only one out 

 of many plants of tliis variety proved to be worth saving. 

 Mr. Kent intends to try some of the other seedlings another 

 season, as they do not always sliow their true character 

 the first. 



