October 11 . THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 20 \ 
rolled mountain upon mountain ; and just when in the 
height of your enjoyment, and wondering where all this 
will lead to, the large conservatory, with its open area 
for flower-garden plants, bursts upon your view. Now, 
in the whole of this wild scenery you never see any¬ 
thing directly opposed to nature; but you never lose 
sight of the fact, that, the natural circumstances secured, 
the mind and energy of a human designer had accom¬ 
plished tho rest. The plants in the conservatory looked 
vigorous and healthy; a platform round the side was 
appropriated to smaller plants in pots. The whole of 
the plants in the vast centre were planted out, or seemed 
to he so. No huge tub, or dirty red pot, interfered with 
the fine base of a stem of one plant, or the graceful, 
drooping foliage of another. Here, as well as in the 
rest of the grounds, the beauty was enhanced from tho 
felt “u7iiliiof eayrrmion” that prevailed. But I must 
stop. _ R. Eish. 
SEEDLING DAHLIAS FOR 1853. 
A FEW rambling notes by a friend, who signs himself 
Observer, has been sent to me, and I know the writer to 
bo not only a good and most successful grower, but also 
one of the best judges of the day of the Dahlia. 
He says, “ 1 have seen all tho following, and can 
speak confidently of their merits. I begin with Raw- 
ling’s Lilac King; this is one of the gems of the season; 
fine lilac; the centre is tho summit of perfection, very 
symmetrical. It is with me No. 1. 
“ Sir John FranTclin (Turner’s).—This is very much in 
form and substance like the preceding, with all the pro¬ 
perties of a first-rate Dahlia; colour, dark orange-buff. 
“ Queen Victoria (Wheeler’s).—Yellow, edged with pur¬ 
ple; form, first-rate, and very beautiful; the centre well 
filled up. 
"Brilliant (Rawling’s).—Bright scarlet of the finest 
form ; centre well up; easy to grow; decidedly the finest 
scarlet Dahlia ever produced; first-rate in every point. 
"LordByron (Pope’s).—Is a flower I noticed at several 
of the leading shows; the form is first-rate; colour, a 
clear bright salmon. 
“ Miss Caroline (Brettell’s).—White, tipt with purple; a 
flower resembling tho Marchioness of Cornwallis Dahlia, 
but without its faults; every flower appears to close well. 
“ These six flowers are the gems of the season, and have 
received the bulk of the certificates. No amateur can 
mistake, if be wishes to grow the best six varieties 
‘for 1853. 
“ I now go on to notice about six more, which will 
comprise all I intend speculating in this year among 
the show varieties. 
"Plantagenet (Turner’s).—Shaded purple, very con¬ 
stant, and a good colour. 
“ Boh (’rurner’s).—Scarlet, rather flat in the face, not 
equal to Rawling’s Brilliant; rather different in colour, 
hut useful, as good scarlets are rather scarce. 
“ Lady Dalrytnple (Turvill’s).—Light, edged with pink; 
a flower well up in the centre; of good form; rather 
small, but useful. 
“ Aimie.Necille (Keynes’s).—Light, edged with purple; 
well up in the centre, but rather deficient in outline, but 
useful from its colour. 
“ British Queen (Drummond’s).—Light, deeply edged 
with purple. I have only seen a flower or two, but 
what I have seen were good; rather thin, and I should 
say difficult to close. 
"Mrs. Stein (Stein’s).—Shaded purple, rather small, 
but well formed; one I should grow for its novel colour 
and shading. It is a very likely show-flower. 
“These are all the flowers I have noticed out of a great 
quantity exhibited at the shows, and I have attended 
many of them. The fancy varieties appear to have made 
very slow progress this season; in fact, there has been 
very few shown. The best I have seen this year is 
Mrs. James Rawlings, a sort of puce tipt with white. 
The flower took two prizes at the Surrey Gardens. I 
liked it there very much. 
“ Wonderful (Keynes’s) is a striped flower, one of the 
best striped varieties, and has taken several prizes. 
There should be a class for striped flowers, to encourage 
their production. 
“ Unanimity (Edwards’s). — Another distinctly-striped 
flower. If a new class is made for stripes these flowers 
will be in demand. 
“These comprise my observations on the now flowers. 
If these notes are of any use to your readers, I may be 
induced to give my opinion on the last year’s flowers, as 
I have gi’own most of them.— Observer.” 
I have very few to add to “ Observer’s” list; ho is 
truly a correct observer, and our amateur friends, 
growers of dahlias, cannot do better than follow his 
advice. I pledge myself to the correctness of his 
descriptions. 
Mr. Stein, of Highgate, has a promising seedling, a 
light scarlet, named Robinson, with great depth of petal, 
of good substance, and excellent form; the same raiser 
has also one named 3Ir. Loclcner, a pinkish-lilac, novel 
in colour, good in substance, and of first-rate form. 
Also, one named Mr. Diclcson, a blush-white, smooth 
edges, well up hi the centre, and of excellent form. 'The 
suggestion “ Observer” makes, that he is willing to give 
his experience and opinion of last year's Dahlias woidd, 
we are sure, be useful and acceptable to tho readers of 
The Cottage Gardener. T. Apdeeby. 
WORK FOR WET DAYS. 
Unlike the last and several previous seasons, the 
present one seems likely to visit us with all the arrears 
of rain which our weather prophets told us was duo 
from the dry winter and spring, which, if not followed 
by abundance of rains in June and subsequently, would 
have left our ponds, streams, and wells, lower than was 
ever known; as it was, they were very low, even in 
mid-winter, and still more so in May; however, there 
seems no reason to think that water will have to he 
carted at Christmas this season, as it was last, to places 
where it was only necessary to do so in the summer 
before. The abundant rains of the last month (to say 
nothing of the present one and what may follow) will 
certainly replenish all our fountains, and for some time 
to come the ground is not likely to lack moisture ; hut 
in the midst of all this wet weather, the question arises. 
What are we to do ; since out-door work is no longer a 
duty that can be performed? It then becomes us to 
see what can be done to advantage under cover in those 
successional wet days we have been of late so often 
visited with. 
Where there is ample shed-room, the dung for mush- 
room-beds may be prepared, and the heds made, spawned, 
and other work connected therewith done; not forgetting 
to look to those beds that are in bearing, or may bo 
expected to come into use soon. These latter, if they 
have been enduring the drying influence of fire-heat in 
any shape, must be supplied with water at those parts 
most exposed. It often happens that a mushroom-bed 
is formed in some back shed where the stoke-holes are 
placed. Now these fires, though heating the structures 
on the other side, very often diffuse an amount of heat 
backwards sufficient to maintain the temperature of tho 
shed several degrees above similar places where there is 
no fire. Now this is very useful, as, notwithstanding 
the healthy, fine mushrooms that are often gathered in 
the open air until very late in the season, sometimes to 
Christmas, still some little warmth is necessary to insure 
I a crop at that time, and still more so afterwards. Now 
