The Dahlia. 
303 
Horticultural Magazine, with pleasure and profit. We do not 
expect that cultivators, in this country, will discard all the varie- 
ties that fall short in the characters given below ; we give them 
in order to show what a really fine Double Dahlia is, that growers 
may know at least what to aim at: 
CHARACTER OF A FINE DAHLIA.— PROPAGATION, &c. 
1. The flower should be a per- 
fect circle when viewed in front: 
the petals should be broad at the 
ends, smooth at the edges, thick in 
substance, perfectly free from in- 
denture or point, stiff to hold their 
form; they should cup a little, but 
'not enough to show the under sur- 
face; they should be in regular 
rows, forming an outline of a per- 
fect circle, without any vacancy 
between them, and all in the circle 
should be of the same size, uni- 
formly open to the same shape, and 
not crumpled. 
2. The flower should form two- 
thirds of a ball, when looked at 
sideways. The rows of petals 
should rise one above another sym- 
metrically; every petal should co- 
A perfect Dahlia. (Fig. 24.) ygr the join of the two petals un- 
der it — what the florists call imbricating, by which means the 
circular appearance is perfected throughout. 
3. The center should be perfect, the unbloomed petals laying 
with their points towards the center, should form a button, and 
should be the highest part of the flovrer, completing the ball. 
4. The flower should be symmetrical. The petals should open 
boldly, without showing their under side, even when half opened, 
and should form circular rows, uniformly laid, evenly opened, and 
enlarging by degrees to the outer row of all. 
5. The flower should be very double. The rows of petals lay- 
ing one above another, should cover one another very nearly; not 
more should be seen in depth than half the breadth; the more 
they are covered so as to leave them distinct, the better in that 
respect; the petals, therefore, though cupped, must be shallow. 
6. The size of the flowers when well grown, should be four 
inches in diameter, and not more than six. 
7. The color should be dense, whatever it be — not as if it were 
a white dipped in color, but as if the whole flower was colored 
throughout. Whether tipped or edged, it must be free from 
