8 The Amateur's Book of the Dahlia 



Some of our grandmothers still clung to the 

 old round types, and many present-day gardens 

 have a few of these tucked into odd comers, 

 degenerates of the great show days. 



It is to these types that many people refer 

 when they state that "dahlias are an acquired 

 taste — ^like olives." They do not know! They 

 have never seen our modern dahlias. 



In 1872 one M. J. T. Van der Berg of Holland 

 (as his name denotes), received a box of miscella- 

 neous seeds, plants, and roots from a friend in 

 Mexico whose name is now unknown. They were 

 nearly all dead, having been a long time crossing 

 the ocean, but one dahlia tuber had just enough 

 life in it to send up a promising shoot. It was 

 coaxed along and late that summer produced 

 a brilliant blood-red flower of a shape never 

 seen before. Instead of the quilled petals with 

 rounded margins of bygone days, the petals of this 

 flower were rolled back and pointed; the plant 

 was tall, and the stem was long and strong, carry- 

 ing the little flower well away from the foliage. 



It differed so greatly that it was immediately 

 given place as a botanical species, called " Cactus 

 dahlia" on account of its resemblance in form 

 and colour to the blossom of the Cereus Spedo- 

 cissimus or "Showy Cactus." This original 

 cactus dahlia was named Dahlia Juarezii, in 



