194 



The Garden Magazine, December, 1921 



as we look over the Dahlia shows and the new catalogues, while 

 the more refined tints and forms are not neglected, more and 

 more of the giant Decoratives and monster Hybrid Cactus 

 varieties of striking colors are in evidence. We find these prom- 

 inent among admired new kinds coming from the breeding 

 grounds of the Slocombe Gardens, G. L. Stillman, Judge Marean, 

 and the group of California Dahlia originators who are now 

 supplying us with many of our best new varieties. We find the 

 same tendencies in the Peon y-flowe red kinds, of which Stillman 

 alone has given us a race of his own, but the great, fine-colored 

 Decorative is becoming America's own. 



THERE are still great possibilities. A look over the history 

 of the Dahlia; the new classes that have come out of it in 

 comparatively recent times; the interest taken in Dahlias now; 

 the closer study being given to their origin, structure, and wild 

 forms by Dr. W. E. Safford and others, all seem to point to 

 continued and possibly startling development in this flower. 

 The foundations are laid for America to give us a type not yet 

 thought of. Some one with a vision for the different will yet 

 create the real American Dahlia ! Just what it will be is a secret 

 of the future, but there is much preparatory work that can be 

 definitely laid out and done. There is no certain body of 

 knowledge of the genetics of Dahlias in the hands of breeders; 

 we do not know the hereditary constitution of our best varieties 



J. H. SLOCOMBE 



Himself nearly six feet tall standing among sturdy plants of his own va- 

 riety, Annie Slocombe. He was one of the dominant raisers in the East 



W. W. WILMORE 



Whose originations of Dahlias have made Den- 

 ver, Colorado, a centre of interest. Shown here 

 with his son, killed in France during the war 



and are working in the dark in growing seedlings from them, and 

 we have only here and there brief notes on how the different 

 species and varieties cross and how they influence one another 

 in the offspring. Accurate methods of pollination need to be 

 worked out. The reason for the short life of many perfectly 

 good varieties; the cause of deterioration under certain con- 

 ditions, themselves not well known; and many other similar 

 problems will give plenty of work for thought and experi- 

 ment. 



The field of the Dahlia as an ornamental flower is rather nar- 

 row, and while there may be no need to develop it to take the 

 place of any other flower, it has possibilities in that direction 

 that have not yet been touched. Dahlias for different seasons, 

 soils, climates, situations, as well as for different ornamental 

 purposes may in the future be produced where now they are 

 available only as -cut flowers and, to a limited extent, garden 

 decoration. 



THIS sketch should not be closed without mentioning the 

 great stimulus the Dahlia has received in the United States 

 from the present American Dahlia Society since its organization 

 in 191 5. The New England Dahlia Society, with its numerous 

 enthusiastic devotees; many local societies in the Dahlia-growing 

 sections of the country; and especially the great California 

 Dahlia Society with all its opportunities in the ideal Dahlia cli- 

 mate of the Pacific Coast from Canada southward, such as it is 

 not our privilege in the East to enjoy, have all advanced the 

 cause of the Dahlia. J.J. Broomall, Mrs. E. W. Lymbery (Bessie 

 Boston), and several others of the California society are, in fact, 

 making that state the chief centre of Dahlia breeding in America. 



Able and devoted amateurs, often with opportunities and 

 facilities denied to professionals, are doing their part, and some 

 of our finest novelties are coming from their gardens. The work 

 of scientific institutions is exemplified by the trial garden at 

 Storrs, Conn., and the new one just starting this year at the 

 University of Maryland. 



Among important contributions to the meagre supply of 

 Dahlia literature in this country is a bulletin dating back to 

 1897 issued by W. Miller as a result of variety tests at Cornell. 



