THE DAHLIA 



HIRTY or forty years ago 

 the Dahlia was one of our 

 popular flowers. That is, 

 popular among those who 

 aspired to " keep up with 

 the times," and grow all the 

 new plants that had real 

 merit in them. At that time but one form of it 

 was considered worth growing, and that was the 

 very double, globular type of flower. The single 

 varieties were looked upon as worthless. 



After a time the popularity of the flower 

 waned for some reason hard to account for, ex- 

 cept on the theory that there are fashions in 

 flowers as in clothes. I presume that the true 

 explanation is that we Americans are prone to 

 run to extremes, and when we take up a plant 

 and it becomes a favorite we overdo matters and 

 tire of it because we see so much of it. Then we 

 relegate it to the background for a time, and 

 after awhile we drag it out of the obscurity to 

 which we temporarily consigned it as a penalty 

 for its popularity, and straightway it comes into 



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