294 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
I October 2,1890, 
-When paying a visit to Picton Cottage, Thames Ditton, 
the residence of C. F. Howell, Esq., I was much pleased to see this now 
popular vegetable the Tomato extremely well cultivated. The plants 
were in 12-inch pots, and the compost used at the time of potting being 
a mixture of light and heavy loam, and they were helped when fruiting 
by sprinkling a little of Thomson’s Vine manure on the surface. There 
were in all three dozen pots, the size of the house being 20 feet by 
14 feet, with a span roof ; other plants, such as Pelargoniums, Fuchsias, 
Liliums, &c., being grown in the house as well, and scarcely any peat 
had been used. At the time of my visit (the middle of August) they 
were well worth going a long way to see, the plants all doing well, and 
carrying a heavy crop of fruit, some of the specimens being 1 lb. in 
weight, plenty of others fully f lb. The varieties grown were Suttons’ 
Reading Perfection and Waite’s Glenhurat Favourite, with a few pots of 
Carter’s Perfection, the two former being much alike, the distinction 
if any being in Waite’s Glenhurst Favourite having slightly deeper 
fruit. 
- On again paying a visit a few days ago I found them still in 
a flourishing condition, the gardener (Mr. Kent) informing us that he 
should think at least 200 lbs. had been gathered during the season, a 
dish from which had easily secured premier honours at the late Show of 
the Ditton Horticultural Society, held in July last. In addition to the 
above it might be mentioned that Mr. Kent secured first honours for a 
very prettily arranged group of miscellaneous plants. The gardens at 
Picton Cottage are not extensive, but whatever is attempted is well 
grown and satisfactory to its popular owner (C. F. Howell, Esq.), who 
takes a great interest in his garden ; and it is creditable to his gardener, 
Mr. J. Kent. Orchids are also well represented-Cattleyas, Odonto- 
glossums, Cypripediums, and Dendrobiums especially in great variety. 
- Near there are the beautiful grounds attached to Manor 
House, Thames Ditton, the residence of Hannibal Speer, Esq., under 
the management of Mr. H. Farr, who was the winner of the bronze 
medal presented by the Royal Horticultural Society at the above Show 
for the largest aggregate amount of money prizes. One plant specially 
worthy of note at the time of my visit was a beautiful specimen of 
Lilium auratum. The stem came very much deformed, especially 
towards the top, and it was thought that the flowers would not come 
perfect, but contrary to all expectations, the buds all expanded into 
perfect flowers, and formed a sight once seen never to be forgotten, as 
there were no less than forty-three good sized flowers open at once, 
filling the conservatory with fragrance. The Chrysanthemums, of which 
■about 200 are grown, looked well, and no doubt later Mr. Farr will have 
a grand display of bloom.—P. 
- I have forwarded to you a sample of selected Perfection 
Tomatoes as grown here, and shall be glad of your opinion of the same. 
They are not the largest we have grown this season, having gathered 
many fruits weighing upwards of a pound, one specially fine fruit 
weighing 22 ozs. Our plants are confined to single stems, and have a 
very limited root run, the majority of them growing in boxes of various 
lengths, but only a foot wide by 6 inches deep, the plants standing a 
foot asunder, and we have taken a heavy crop of fruit from them. We 
always use the brush to assist the setting in the earlier stages, and 
invariably secure a good set, but I find as we discontinue the use of the 
brush we secure but little addition to our crop as regards quantity, the 
plants devoting their strength to swelling the fruits which we have 
assisted them to set,, and being generously treated to liquid manure and 
a sprinkling of fertiliser, they acquit themselves in a very satisfactory 
manner.—T. Crosswell, Homewood Gardens, Eden Park, Beckenham. 
—[Four magnificent fruits were received, weighing respectively 13 ozs., 
15 ozs., 15J ozs., and 19 ozs., a total of 62| ozs., or an average of 15J ozs. 
each. They were well formed, even, and handsome, such as are seldom 
seen.] 
ORIGIN OF THE FLORISTS’ DAHLIA. 
The opening paper at the Dahlia Conference at Chiswick on 
Tuesday was by Mr. Shirley Hibberd, the subject being “ The Origin of 
the Florists’ Dahlia.” Instead of reading in the customary manner 
from written or printed copy, Mr. Hibberd entered upon a free 
extemporaneous discourse ; and with the aid of a series of drawings was 
enabled to interest his auditors in a subject that appears not to offer 
many points of general interest. 
He divided his subject into two parts, the historical and the 
biological. The earliest description of the Dahlia extant is in the 
“ Treatise on the Animals and Plants of New Spain,” by Francisco 
Hernandez, published at Madrid in 1615. From this time there was no 
more heard of the flower for 150 years. It was again heard of in 1787, 
when Nicholas de Meno'nville was sent from France to Mexico to obtain, 
by any means, the cochineal insect and the plant on which it fed. This 
explorer reported having seen in the gardens great Asters on stems 
6 feet high with leaves like those of the Elder tree, and this augmented 
the desire in Europe for the possession of the floral wonder. The 
desire was gratified in 1789, when a pircel of seeds was sent from 
Mexico city by Vincent Cervantez, to be grown by the Abb6 Cavanilles, 
in the Botanic Garden at Madrid. Of these England secured a share 
through Lord Bute, who was at that time in Madrid, and secured a few, 
which he sent home to Lady Bute, who grew them in her greenhouse, so 
that in the year 1790 the living flowers of the Dahlia were actually seen 
in this country. But the nature of the plant being misunderstood, it^ 
was soon lost to cultivation ; it was, in fact, killed by kindness, for the’’ 
pet idea of that time was that all exotic plants required a high tempera¬ 
ture and a stifling atmosphere. 
The year that followed was the first in the proper history of the 
plant, for then Cavanilles, in his leones, gave it a name as Dahlia 
coccinea, the generic name being a compliment to Andreas Dahl, author 
of a treatise on the Linnaean system of botany. This name was subse¬ 
quently set aside by Professor Willdenow in favour of Georgina, in com¬ 
pliment to Professor Georgi of St. Petersburgh ; but in 1832 the original 
name was restored on the so’e ground of priority, and from that time 
has been generally used. 
The formation of the florists’ Dahlia began in the year 1813, when 
Donkelaar, at the Botanical Gardens at Louvain, obtained a series of 
double flowers, which were freely distributed. But from about the year 
1800 the French had been assiduously cultivating it, though but little 
was heard of their operations in this way, owing to the influence of 
politics in every department of public intelligence. But the advance¬ 
ment of the flower in French gardens was revealed when the Allies 
entered Paris in 1814, for the English amateurs found single and doub’e 
varieties in profusion, and it seems that the credit for all this was due to 
Donkelaar, who had first persuaded the plant to display its variability, 
and had freely distributed his improved varieties. Thus the Dahlia 
came in with the French Revolution, and it attained to the dignity of a 
florists’ flower concurrently with the downfall of Napoleon, who was the 
“child” of that revolution. 
Turning to the biological history, the figures of Dahlia coccinea 
(“Botanical Magazine,” t. 762) and of Dahlia variabilis (“ B. M.,” 
t. 1885) were contrasted with the flowers in the Exhibition to show that 
although the several forms of Dahlias were known eighty years ago, the 
interval had been one of continual progression, the ear’iest doubles 
being so unlike those of the present day that one might say that their 
relationship was botanical rather than floral. The progress of the flower 
in all the qualities that are valued and sought by the florists was con¬ 
tinuous until about the year 1850, the golden time being from 1830 
onwards, when the prices of the new varieties ranged from 20s. to 
30s., and the Dahlia supported publications of its own, one of its ablest 
advocates being the “ Dahlia Register.” In those golden days the prin¬ 
cipal trade cultivators were Wheeler of Warminster, Brown of Slough, 
Heale of Caine, and Glenny of Isleworth. In one of his advertisements 
in the year 1836 Mr. Glenny announced that the selection he had made 
represented the best amongst 3000 seedlings. For some time after this 
date Mr. Charles Turner of Slouch, and Mr. George Rawlings of Bethnal 
Green advertised their new varieties at 15s. each, but after 1850 there 
was a visible decline in the popularity of the flower. Tne years 1860 to 
1870 was a dark time in the history of the Dahlia, but in 1870 the 
National Dahlia Society commenced operations, and accomplished a 
genuine revival, and this was the more gratifying as it was on the broad 
basis of recognising the single and the Cactus varieties that were then 
coming into favour, the first Cactus variety, Juarezi, of recent times 
being shown by Mr. H. Cannell in 1872. Previous to this, however, the 
Cactus group has been prefigured in Brown’s “ Glow-worm,” 1836, a 
portrait of which Mr. Hibberd presented to the meeting. 
The Dahlia was described as the most variable flower known, and a 
detailed account was given of the changes that take place in the 
development of the single to the double flower. The dissection of the 
flower revealed the differences between the florets of the ray and the 
florets of the disk, not only as to outward form, but as to their relation 
with the sexual systems, one direct tendency of the doubling process 
being to sterilise the flower. Some very interesting particulars were 
given on the seeding of show Dahlias and o i the limits of variation in 
this variable flower. Of the extent of its variability Mr. Hibberd was 
enabled to discourse the more freely when he announced his belief that 
all our Dahlias, save and except the South American Dahlia imperialis, 
are representatives of one species. Thus he fuses frustraneawithsuperflua, 
and even glabrata he regards a miniature form of variabilis, which 
name for strictly technical purposes he considers should represent the 
one species of which the other reputed species are but geographical 
forms. His reasons for those views would occupy more space than we 
can afford for them, but as the full text of the discourse will appear in 
the Society’s journal, those who are curious on this part of the subject 
have but to wait for the publication to satisfy their curiosity. 
CLEMATIS STANLEYI. 
The engraving (fig. 35) has been prepared from a drawing made at 
Kew about a month ago, and faithfully represents a distinct and little 
known member of the genus Clematis. It cannot be claimed as a 
| novelty for it has been known at least half a century, having been 
