344 
THE FLORIST. 
THE GREAT NATIONAL DAHLIA EXHIBITION, ST. 
JAMES’S HALL. 
This meeting having taken place so late in the September we had 
neither time nor space to give more than a report of the awards, 
promising some after comments, which we now supply. The magnitude 
of the exhibition will be shown by stating that the collections of named 
flowers staged for competition comprised the great number of 1376. 
This is exclusive of those in designs, groups, and seedlings. Of the 
latter there was a large number. We propose, however, to allude only 
to such as were exhibited in the successful collections. The number of 
blooms in these amounted to 690, and give the following result, namely, 
135 varieties of seifs, or show flowers, which included 23 new kinds— 
those sent out in 1858; all are English raised, with the exception of 
three from the Continent—Pandora, Deutche Wierde, and Triomphe de 
Pecq—and one Scotch, the Hon. Mrs. Trotter. The oldest Dahlia 
shown was Essex Triumph, sent out in 1842. The new flowers we 
propose to deal with chiefly in this summary, being of opinion that they 
took a prominent position, and it will be as interesting as it is instruc¬ 
tive to note those shown the most times, indicating thereby their 
constancy, which will serve as a guide to the grower another season. 
The number of winning stands of seifs was 24; and the largest number 
shown of any new flower, 14—namely, Miss Pressley—which, to be 
absent only from ten of the winning stands, was remarkable. As many 
grow the new kinds but partially, we give them, arranged according to 
the positions they took. 
Miss Pressley 
. . 14 * 
King .... 
3 
^Village Gem 
. . 13 
* Alice Downie . . . 
3 
Commander . 
. 12 
Loveliness 
3 
Marion 
. . 12 
Hon. Mrs. Trotter . . 
3 
Mrs. Church . 
. 11 
Sir J. Paxton 
3 
Elizabeth . . 
. . 6 
Sir C. Campbell . . 
2 
Mr. Critchet . 
. 6 
Lord Fielding 
2 
Standard Bearer 
. . 6 
Peerless . . . . 
2 
Venus . 
, 5 
Sir J. Watts . 
1 
Goldfinder . 
. . 4 
Mars . . . . 
1 
Lady Mildmay 
. 4 
Marchioness of Aylesbury 
1 
Miss "Watts 
. . 4 
all, 119 blooms 
of new varieties. 
In old kinds, Cherub stands at the head of the list, having been 
shown in 22 out of 23 winning stands, as one of the collections could 
only contain new flowers. The following twelve varieties were the 
most successful:— 
Cherub . 
. 22 
Midnight 
. 12 
Lord Palmerston 
. 17 
*Perfection 
. . 11 
Lady Popham 
. 15 
Pre-eminent . 
. 11 
Lollipop . 
. 14 
Touchstone 
. . 11 
Lord Bath 
. 13 
Pandora 
. 10 
Col. Windham . 
. 12 
Amazon . 
. . 10 
Fifty varieties were shown once only; these were either old kinds or 
seedlings, only in the raiser’s hands. 
In fancy varieties there were not so many new flowers, the productions 
