By Joseph Sabine, Esq. 



227 



duced into the flower garden at St. Cloud, three distinct varie- 

 ties, one variety being already there : from the seeds of some 

 of these he obtained, in the following year, several plants 

 differing in colour from the originals ; the next year great 

 attention was paid to separating the seeds of each sort, con- 

 ceiving that their produce would, in some measure, follow 

 the parent plant, but the result was not what had been ex- 

 pected ; the young stock differed much from the old, and 

 from each other, and yielded flowers of the most beautiful 

 description, purples, dark reds, cherry reds, buffs, and even 

 pale yellows ; and by continued attention to their cultivation, 

 the seedlings in the Royal flower garden, in each new year, 

 presented differences in colours and forms, which seemed 

 almost new creations ; one of the most remarkable of these 

 was a plant with pure white flowers. Amongst the plants 

 raised at St. Cloud, Count Lelieur mentions three with 

 double flowers, the purple, rose, and buff, as well as several 

 striped and shaded single ones. It is to the liberality of the 

 Count, that the Horticultural Society is indebted for the fine 

 assemblage of Dahlias, which are now in its Garden, the roots 

 having been presented by him in the last spring. 



The first introduction of the Dahlias into the Royal Gar- 

 dens at Berlin, has been already noticed, as having occurred 

 between 1800 and 1805. Mons. Otto has informed me, that 

 the chief varieties were raised between 1809 and 1817, but 

 that the first which shewed themselves were produced in 

 1806 and 1807. About 1813, he began to pay more parti- 

 cular attention to their cultivation, and improved their kinds 

 by cross impregnations of the stigmata of the florets. The 

 first double flower he possessed came from Stutgard, but a 

 complete double one of his own, flowered in 1809 ; it was 



vol. in. H h 



