ICO 



its colour. Many of them are said to be constant, 

 but that has only reference to some particular locality. 

 The selfsame kind has been found totally different 

 elsewhere ; for instance, Oakley's Surprise, Modesta^ 

 La Lionne, and Beauty of England, are of this num. 

 ber. There is no doubt that the disease may be ac- 

 celerated by richness of soil and pruning ; on th e 

 other hand, it is in some degree prevented by planting 

 pieces of old roots instead of yearly cuttings ; it is 

 true, the flowers will not be so large, but certainly 

 much earlier, very abundant, and more constant. A 

 still better plan is to flower pieces of roots in 12 or 

 1 6-sized pots, plunged an inch or two below the sur- 

 face ; but it is best of all (at least, such is the opinion 

 of French florists) to graft all tipped varieties ; and 

 certainly no one can walk through the Paris markets 

 in June, July, and August, without being struck with 

 the number and beauty of fancy dahlias : you may 

 see hundreds of plants, from 18 inches to 2 feet in 

 height, with blooms as regularly tipped as you could 

 possibly desire. (Gard. Chron. 1845, 102.) 



We have no doubt ourselves, that the variableness 

 of colour is mainly, if not entirely, dependant upon 

 the fertility of the soil, and that the discordance of 

 opinion arises from a non-attention to the particular 

 colour which is the subject of change. It is a matter 

 of certainty that more colouring matter is developed 

 by plants growing upon a rich soil, than by others of 



