May.'] CHARACTER OF A FINE DAHLIA. 103 
STRIPED. 
Striata forniosissima, Multicolor. 
YELLOW TIPPED WITH WHITE. 
Mimosa, The Baron. 
Andromeda, 
The above are the choicest in cultivation at the present 
time, and for farther description in regard to colour, height 
and price, we beg to refer our readers to the periodical cata- 
logues of our respectable nurserymen that are issued every 
spring, and contain many other sorts of eminence ; and not 
a few equally desirable with the above, though the descrip- 
tions of some that are annually received from England are 
more tempting than the article. Whether there are some 
sorts that do produce more perfect and beautiful flowers in 
their humid climate than they do when transferred to ours, 
we cannot practically decide, but presume that it is the fact, 
for we are confident, and every season does more fully con- 
firm it, that the seedlings grown in this country from seed 
sowed here do grow better, and flower finer, than the gene- 
rality of those imported ; and, to prevent us adopting inferior 
sorts, and giving them dashing names, we subjoin the follow- 
ing rules for judging : — 
CHARACTER OF A FINE DAHLIA. 
" The best judges distinguish Dahlias by the three criteria 
of form, colour, and size. 
" 1. Form. — The front view of the blossom should be 
perfectly circular, without notches or inequalities, caused by 
the petals being pointed, and not, as they should be, rounded; 
smooth at the edges, and slightly concave, but not so much 
as to show any of the back. One of the most perfect 
flowers, in this respect, is the Springfield Rival. When the 
petals are pointed, notched, fringed, piped, quilled, concave, 
convex, or flat, the perfectness of the circle is broken, and 
one indispensable beauty in the eye of the florist is deficient. 
