HISTORICAL. 
• 
1 he Dahlia derives its name from the Swedish botanist, Dr. Dahl, but for a time 
was also known under the name of Georgina, after Prof. George, of St. Petersburg. 
Its earliest known history is not yet very old. About the year I 65 7 Francisco 
Hernandez, a Spanish physician, wrote a book on plants, and among the plants de- 
scribed he mentions Dahlia variabilis, the species from which most, if not all, of our pres- 
ent varieties have originated. At that time it is probable that it was only known as one 
of the great multitude of botanical plants, without much, if any, thought of its future 
usefulness, for we find nothing further in print for I 30 years. It is quite probable, how- 
ever, that some effort was made to improve and domesticate the plant toward the close 
of the eighteenth century, for in I 787 Nicholas Joseph Thirerry de Menonville, a 
Frenchman, published an account of the Dahlias he had seen growing in the gardens 
in Mexico. Two years later, I 789, seeds were sent from the Botanic Gardens of Mex- 
ico to the Royal Gardens at Madrid, Spain, where it was given its present name. This 
lot of seedlings was lost two years later, as were several other lots sent to various places. 
But their stay, though brief, awakened a deep interest in the plant and its possibilities, 
and further attempts at its cultivation were now made in several European countries and 
it soon became quite popular. The work bestowed upon it, however, seems to have 
been more in the nature of a fad rather than intelligent study. Difficulty seems to have 
been encountered also in knowing how to keep the roots over to the next season. 
It should be borne in mind that up to this time all the varieties were single, the var- 
iegated and striped varieties leading in popular favor. 
I he history of the first double forms is told as follows: M. Donkelaar, of Lou- 
vian, began a series of experiments with northen-grown seed in 1812. His first crop 
of seedlings was still quite single, but seed saved from these gave him some semi-double 
flowers in 1813, and seed saved from these again gave fully double flowers in 1814, 
the third generation of the northern-grown seed. These varieties continued to produce 
double flowers and the Dahlia now became immensely popular. 
I he question naturally arises here: Why should northern-grown seed produce 
double flowers? A theory gives this answer: Nature, always alert to perpetuate itself, 
throws out extra petals to protect the tender seeds from the chill of the northern atmo- 
sphere. Be this true or not, certain it is that double varieties show a decided tendency 
in warm climates to become semi-double and single varieties in the North are hard to 
keep in true form. 
1 he first Cactus Dahlia originated in 1872, but was not placed upon the market 
until 1 880. It seems to have been a chance seedling, but may be a separate species. The 
original specimen was a bright scarlet of fine form but very short stem, but was neverthe- 
less a very welcome addition, and I adopted it as the central figure of my trade mark. It 
was introduced under the name of Juarezi, after President Juarez of Mexico, and is still 
listed in some of the catalogues. From this chance plant there has descended a mighty 
troop that has held the center of the Dahlia stage for the past twenty years, and the type 
is still showing marked improvement each year. Where it will end no one can say. The 
type embraces all the colors of the other types, in size from a small pompon to a diameter 
of seven inches, some with petals as narrow as a blade of grass, giving the flower more 
the appearance of a chrysanthemum than a Dahlia. At first the type was deficient in 
stems, they being either short and stiff or thin and weakly, but in recent years much 
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