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XLVI. Observations on, and Account of, the Species and 

 Varieties, of the Genus Dahlia ; with Instructions for their 

 Cultivation and Treatment By Joseph Sabine, Esq. 

 F. R. S. $c. Secretary. 



Read October 6, 1818. 



No plants, introduced into this country, within my recollec- 

 tion, have excited so much attention, as the Dahlias ; nor is 

 this to be wondered at ; for, independently of the great beauty 

 and diversity of the flowers, they are in perfection at a season 

 when, till they came into notice, our gardens had but little 

 ornament. 



It must, however, be acknowledged, that the merit of 

 first carefully attending to, and cultivating these plants, be- 

 longs exclusively to the continental gardeners ; for though 

 we received them, originally, almost as soon as the French 

 and Germans, yet, if not lost, they had nearly gone out of 

 notice, with us ; whilst, in France and Germany, they had 

 increased as much in number, as in beauty : and persons 

 fond of gardening, who visited the continent, on the return 

 of peace, in 1814, were surprised with the splendour and 

 varieties of the Dahlias in the foreign collections. In the 

 winter of that year, several roots were imported into this 

 country, and since that period we have made up for former 

 neglect, as is sufficiently evinced by the splendid exhibitions 

 of these flowers, both in the public and private gardens 

 around London. We have now acquired a more perfect 

 knowledge of their treatment, and new varieties, in abundance, 



