THE DAHLIA. 



413 



classed with the exhibition sorts ; and those varieties that are 

 grown chiefly for their foliage effect. Other types must still be 

 added, such as the Parisian Singles, Star Dahlias, and the Cosmea- 

 flowered varieties. 



I think I have noted the chief of the various forms in cultiva- 

 tion, at all events quite enough to point out the great diversity of 

 the flowe r, and I feel certain that the Dahlia will continue to produce 

 other breaks, and that finality is by no means reached. 



Objection has often been taken to the Dahlia on the ground that 

 the flowers are not adapted to room decoration, to which I at once 

 take exception. You will note the handsome vases exhibited in our 

 Hall at our Autumn Shows, which were probably cut twenty-four 

 hours previously. Surely they are clear evidence that the Dahlia is 

 a suitable flower for any decorative work. It must be admitted that 

 our high-class florists have made no serious attempt to popularize the 

 flower in this direction. Our friends in the United States of America 

 regard the Dahlia as a first-class decorative subject, and millions of 

 blooms must be grown for this purpose alone. One correspondent 

 writes to me this spring that he is growing seventy-five acres of Dahlias 

 for cut-flower purposes, and, although perhaps he may be the largest 

 grower in the States, there are hundreds of others with smaller acreages, 

 clearly showing that our American friends know how to utilize the 

 Dahlia for decorative work. This is in a large measure due to the 

 varieties utilized for this work, which are largely of the types we 

 know as Decorative Dahlias. They undoubtedly have more lasting pro- 

 perties than the Cactus varieties ; and, moreover, where flowers have 

 long railway journeys before reaching their market, the Decorative 

 types pack and travel much better than the Cactus section, simply 

 because the petals are shorter and of greater substance. Possibly 

 the time may come when we in this country may have the audacity 

 to consider the Dahlia as a decorative flower, just in the same way 

 as our American cousins view it to-day. 



I might say in passing that the Dahlia is perhaps more popular 

 in foreign climes than in our own, especially at the present time. 

 Briefly speaking, the United States and Canada certainly favour the 

 Decorative type of the flower ; Japan undoubtedly favours the Cactus 

 section. Australia as a whole grows the Peony-flowered section for 

 preference. South Africa, I think, is at present growing most sections, 

 but with a decided leaning to the Peony-flowered varieties. Russia 

 must surely grow the Cactus varieties only, if one can form an opinion 

 from their import orders. 



One has only to reflect for a moment to form an idea of the vast 

 area of the globe that is now growing the Dahlia for commercial 

 purposes, or purely from an amateur's point of view, the latter being 

 of course in the ascendency. 



Details of the cultivation of the Dahlia do not enter into my 

 paper, though I feel I must point out that most of the writers on 

 this particular phase of the subject must have had precisely the same 



