542 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



DAHLIAS TRIED AT DUFFRYN, 1914. 



The Society's trial of Dahlias from a garden decorative point of view 

 was again carried out, as last year, by kind permission of Reginald 

 Cory, Esq., at Duffryn, near Cardiff (see vol. xxxix. p. 657), and 

 again proved a great success. As the trial on this occasion was con- 

 fined to seedlings not yet in commerce, and varieties offered for 

 the first time in 191 4, the trial was not so extensive as last year, 

 though some two hundred and forty varieties were sent in. The 

 number of novelties was largely increased both from at home and 

 abroad, showing evidence of a greatly increased interest in these trials. 

 The Paeony-flowered section was the most numerous, no fewer than 

 one hundred and ten varieties being represented. The Collerette 

 section totalled forty-four, the Cactus thirty-three, the Si gles 

 thirty-two, the Decorative varieties seventeen, the Pompons three, 

 and one Pompon Cactus. Unfortunately, the first week in September 

 was very wet, with high winds prevaiHng day after day, so that 

 many of the flowers were damaged and were not seen at their best. 

 At the time of inspection, however, they were rapidly recovering. 

 The Pseony-flowered varieties are advancing, having much better 

 stems than the older forms, but little, if any, improvement was 

 apparent in the Collerette section. The Cactus varieties sent in 

 were a decided improvement on those of last year. Unfortunately, 

 many of them were making a second growth, thus hiding to a 

 certain extent the first flowers. The Decorative section had with- 

 stood the wind and rain best of all, and a considerable improve- 

 ment was noted here in the colours, stem, and freedom of flowering. 

 The other sections did not contain anything that could be called 

 better than the varieties already in commerce. The £5 5s. Cup 

 kindly presented to the Society by Mr. Cory was recommended to 

 be awarded to * Mrs. J. C. Vaughan,' a Pseony-flowered form ; though 

 its first flowers are all double, later in the season it develops a 

 distinct eye. 



The trial was admirably carried out and gave evidence of the 

 great care and attention that had been bestowed upon the 

 plants by Mr. Cory, to whom are tendered the grateful thanks of 

 the Society and of all admirers of the Dahlia as a decorative garden 

 plant. 



The following Table gives a list of the new varieties which proved 

 most desirable for garden decoration : 



