TYPES OF DAHLIAS. 



all single flowers. It was then that Lord Holland wrote to her ladyship, who was 

 still at Madrid, the following lines, though they are not always attributed to him :— 



' ' The Dahlia you brought to our Isle 

 Your praises for ever shall speak ; 

 Mid gardens as sweet as your smile, 

 And colour as bright as your cheek." 



It is rather obscure whether the double varieties of Mons. Donckelaar were imported 

 into England, or whether our own florists succeeded in producing double flowers ; but 

 it was not until about 1830 that dahlias 



caught the public fancy, and societies 

 became established to promote their cul- 

 ture ; large sums of money were given 

 for new varieties and shows were held 

 all through the country. 



The sole aim of raisers then, and for 

 many years, was to produce flowers of 

 the double type, all others being ruth- 

 lessly discarded, and in time the enthu- 

 siasm rather waned. About seventeen 

 years ago a bold exhibitor submitted 

 flowers of the old Dahlia coccinea (single) 

 before the Eoyal Horticultural Society, 

 and a certificate was granted for it ; 

 and soon afterwards single varieties in 

 various colours became fashionable. 

 Subsequently blooms of Dahlia Juarezii 

 (named after Juarez, a Mexican President) 



were exhibited by Mr. Cannell of Swan- 

 ley, before the same society and honoured ; this, though a double variety, was totally 

 unlike the symmetrical blooms of the florist with their round, smooth petals ; for the 

 florets of the new-comer were sharp-pointed like the rays of a double star or the petals 

 of the large scarlet cactus ; it then became known as the cactus dahlia, and the demand 

 for it became great. New varieties were produced with rapidity, and the demand 

 for cactus dahlias is still increasing. Their characteristics are well displayed in the 

 illustration (Fig. 4), obligingly supplied by Messrs. Dobbie & Co., Rothesay. 



VOL. II. D 



