April 27, IDfS 



THE GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



335 



THE NEWER CACTUS 



DAHLIAS. 



Early in the month of May most lovers 

 of the dahlia look up their note-books or 

 diaries for the past year before deciding 

 which of the newer varieties they intend 

 to 2roTV. Now it is always a difficult matter 



and the fii^t query one receives when men- 

 tioning a new dahlia is, ''What sort of a 

 stem has it got ? ^' One is pleased to note 

 that our raisers are now paying attention 

 to this point, and I feel quite sure that 

 in the next few years we shall see the end 

 of the hideous syphon-like stems that have 

 been all too closely associated with the ex- 

 hibition cactus dahlia. 



so the chief improvement is in the form 

 and habit of the plants. It will be gene- 

 rally admitted that last season was a most 

 unfavourable one for flowering new varie- 

 ties, at all events in the month of Septem- 

 ber; though later, with a cooler atmo- 

 sphere, there was a decided improvement. 



Although I did not see all the new varie- 

 ties, I think I saw the majority of them, 



CACTUS DAHLIA MISS STREDWICK. 



A beautiful cactus variety raised by Messrs. J. Stredwick and Son, St. 



colour mauve-pink passing to light pink at the tips 



Leonard's-on-S ea. 

 of the florets, the 



The bloomy, are of large size, and the 

 centre soft vellow. 



to select new varieties from show boards ; 

 lor, while one can form a pretty good idea 

 of the flower itself, we can only guess at 

 the habit of the plant, and the kind of 

 stem it carries flowers on. 



Now the latter point is one that has re- 

 ceived far more attention from amateurs 

 ^inrmrr the past four years than previously, 



Coming to the new varieties that will be 

 sent out early in May this year, I find we 

 have about the usual numl>er ; but ama- 

 teurs, as a rule, only add a limited set to 

 their collections, so that they want the 

 most distinct. It ds a difiicult matter to 

 obtain new colours in the cactus section 



and 



ciivi, on looking up my notes. I find I was 

 most favourably impressed witli the follow- 

 ing varieties : ^iMiss Stredwick, 1 consi<ler 

 the most distinct seedling of iho year; it 

 is best desiribi'd as inanvc-pink. witli a 

 vollow tinge at the hase of the i]orets._ and 

 is a vcrv handsome flower. (iohlen A\aAe. 



now 



