DECORATIVE GARDEN DAHLIAS, AT DUFFRYN, nr. CARDIFF. 657 



DECORATIVE GARDEN DAHLIAS, AT DUFFRYN, 

 NEAR CARDIFF, 



ON BEHALF OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY AND THE NATIONAL 



DAHLIA SOCIETY. 



By the kindness of Mr. Reginald Cory these trials took place in his 

 charming grounds at Duffryn to demonstrate the value of the Dahlia 

 as a Decorative Garden subject, and with this end in view all the raisers 

 in this country, and some on the Continent, were invited to send plants 

 of every section of the flower they deemed to be valuable as Decorative 

 Garden plants. The response was far in excess of all anticipations, 

 for nearly a thousand distinct varieties were sent in, some as pot roots, 

 others as green plants, the whole number mustering between seven 

 and eight thousand plants, truly a gigantic total ; and when it is re- 

 membered what an important thing it is to make an early start and grow 

 on without a check, so as to ensure early flowering, one can imagine 

 how this vast number must have taxed even the glass resources of 

 Duffryn, especially as the majority of the plants were potted on as 

 they required it into six, seven, and eight inch pots. The trial was 

 quite unique, inasmuch as it differed from the row-after-row type of 

 trial, for they were planted in a series of gardens, in beds, on borders, 

 as bank plants, and even as " dot " plants for summer bedding. The 

 various sections were planted together as far as possible, while the 

 shades of colouring were also associated harmoniously ; the varying 

 height of the plants was also studied, the whole producing an effect 

 absolutely different from the usual trials of such plants. The cultural 

 details were more simple, for the soil appeared to be a good holding 

 loam, which had been deeply cultivated, a light dressing of pit manure 

 applied, and at planting time each plant was placed in a station of 

 sifted potting mould. The necessary support to the plant was a single 

 stake, to which the growths were looped up ; thinning out or disbudding 

 was strictly forbidden, so that all the varieties in their respective 

 sections were on the same plane. This briefly sums up the cultivation 

 of the plants in this trial, except of course the watering of the plants 

 necessitated by the dry season during their growing period, which 

 was never neglected, needless to add, with the result that when visited 

 by the Joint Committee of the two Societies on September 3 and 4 

 they presented a glorious display, which called for unanimous thanks 

 to Mr. Cory and for unstinted admiration of the excellent results 

 achieved. 



The Cactus section was the largest in point of numbers, there being 

 approximately two hundred and fifty varieties. They were, however, 

 in the opinion of the Committee the least satisfactory section, for 

 vol, xxxix, 2 x 



