By Richard Anthony Salisbury, Esq. 95 



the open air so early as the 27th of April, and the Dahlias at 

 the same time just beginning to push, were turned out of 

 the pots, and planted in very different parts of the garden, 

 as well as in very different soils. Having observed in the pre- 

 ceding year, that those which had been confined in the 

 smallest pots and poorest earth, not only flowered the earliest, 

 but made, to a gardener's eye, the handsomest plants, being 

 only from five to six feet high, with scarcely any branches, 

 and panicles of from seven to thirteen flowers, [ ordered some 

 of them to be placed in pure gravel, from which all the larger 

 stones had been screened, others in a dry seam of sand which 

 crossed the garden, and others again in rich earth : they were 

 all supplied with water however during the dry part of sum- 

 mer. Besides these, a number of seedling plants were distri- 

 buted at random in different gardens, and what gave me no 

 little satisfaction, I observed in June, near the largest plant, a 

 cluster of young seedlings coming up from a head which had 

 been supposed rotten, and dug into the border at its winter 

 cleaning. The result in autumn was very similar to that of 

 the former year, but with a still more decided advantage to 

 the plant in screened gravel. One of these expanded its first 

 flower the 19th of August, and its last the 27th of September, 

 all the seeds ripening perfectly : being the dark purple va- 

 riety f, and planted singly in the middle of an open grass 

 plat, it attracted far more attention than the venerable Chest- 

 nuts, Magnolias, Cembra Pines, Cedars, and Cypresses, relicts 

 of Peter Collinson's labour, which surrounded it. The 

 largest plant against the south-east side of the house, in 

 rich earth, had not opened a single flower on the 14th of 

 October, when 1 left the place ; but though plants at Holland 



