22 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



may we admire the patient care and untiring cultivation which 

 has transformed the Dahlia from her flower of half a dozen florets, 

 into one with a perfect maze of numberless florets — all these 

 florets arranged in the exact position for which they are intended, 

 not one too long or one too short, the whole being of perfect 

 symmetry and outline, and yet with an infinite variety of colours, 

 Borne of which might charm the senses of a god. 



Mr. Shirley Hibberd has told us about the development of 

 the double Dahlia out of the single form. I may be wrong, but 

 I believe that there are still vast possibilities of improvement in 

 this noble flower. Probably advance will be slow in the future ; 

 still it would be absurd for us to think the climax has been 

 reached in such varieties as Mrs. Gladstone. 



It is interesting to note that three of the Dahlias that stand 

 very near the top of the tree in Mr. Mawley's valuable Analysis 

 (see page 36) have been in cultivation for upwards of twenty 

 years. These varieties are Mrs. Saunders, Rev. J. B. M. Camm, and 

 James Cocker. Other and perhaps more pleasing varieties have 

 been introduced, but they have not stood the test of years. " They 

 have their day and cease to be." Consequently it is necessary to 

 be continually bringing afresh stock of new varieties into the world, 

 or else in a few years our Dahlias would speedily deteriorate. 



In the future we must endeavour to get varieties which pos- 

 sess all the best qualities. In addition they should be hardier, 

 to confront the frosts which of late years have come so early 

 as to cut down the glory of our gardens almost before they have 

 developed into perfection. If we could only do this we should 

 at once ensure a much greater demand for the Dahlia. 



That it would be possible to raise a hardier race of Dahlias 

 seems likely from the results of the frost on September 1 this 

 year. On that fateful day the thermometer at Salisbury four 

 feet from the ground registered three degrees of frost. Among 

 my own plants the large Show varieties were far the most 

 damaged, while the Pompons and Cactus, excepting Juarezii, 

 escaped almost without harm. Frequently seed has developed 

 on these two types when the large ones were entirely destroyed. 

 Consequently I am led to believe that the Pompon and Decora- 

 tive types are better able to resist frost than the Show type. 

 Among the large type, the low-growing varieties suffered much 

 more severely than the taller ones. Naturally this is accounted 



