Plate 191. 
DAHLIA, ALEXANDRA. 
The past season witnessed, as indeed every season does, the 
introduction of a large number of seedlings of this fine autumn 
flower; and, in the opinion of a good many growers, some re¬ 
markably fine flowers were amongst them. One of them, the 
subject of our present Plate, has been greatly admired, and we 
have therefore gladly given it a place in our Magazine. 
Since last w 7 e figured Dahlias, the question of exhibiting 
them in their present classes has been largely mooted, and con¬ 
siderable desire has been evinced to effect an alteration. The 
class of fancy Dahlias, it has been felt, is very arbitrary. Why 
a flower with a dark ground and a white tip should be placed in 
this class, while one with a light ground and dark tip is not, 
is one of those anomalies which are at once recognized.; and 
yet, like many other things, it is easier to see the error than to 
amend it. The discussions connected with the subject were 
commenced, in a contemporary more or less connected with the 
Royal Horticultural Society, but the Autumn Show of the So¬ 
ciety has been now abandoned, so that there is no opportunity 
of their initiating any change; nor do we think the Crystal 
Palace Company is likely to do so, so that the present system 
is likely to continue: and unless the change were generally 
recognized and agreed to, it would be worse than useless to 
attempt it. 
In the ; Florists’ Guide ’ (a new aspirant for favour amongst 
those who cultivate florists’ flowers, and promising well under 
its able editor), we find a writer has criticized the Dahlias of 
last year very severely, and notwithstanding the high promise 
of some of them, hardly seems to consider any of them worth 
preserving. This is very disappointing if it be so, hut we have 
