September 4, 1886. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
3 
DUTCH, 
CAPE, 
CALIFORNIAN, 
BULBS 
W ILL be found very fully described, and most 
complete collections given in 
WABE’S, 1586, BXJL1 GUIDE, 
Just published in 2 PARTS and prepared with very 
much practical care, the descriptions will be found 
perfectly accurate, and are the result of personal ex- 
FLOWER SHOWS. 
National Chrysanthemum Society, Royal 
Aquarium, Westminster, 
RAND EXHIBITION of Dahlias, Gladioli, 
Early Chrysanthemums, &c., Thursday and Friday, 
September 9th and lOt.h. Schedules free on application to 
WILLIAM HOLMES, Hon. Sec., Frampton Park Nurseries, 
Hackney. 
Revised official Chrysanthemum Catalogue, now ready, Gd. per copy. 
"OCTAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY, 
XL SOUTH KENSINGTON, S.W. 
NOTICE !—COMMITTEE MEETINGS, Fruit and Floral, at 11 
a.m., in the Conservatory, on Tuesday next, September 7th. 
SHOW OF GRAPES, DAHLIAS, &c., on Tuesday, September 
7th, and Wednesday, September Sth. 
N.B.—Open to Fellows at Twelve o’clock, and the Public at 
One o'clock. On Wednesday, 10 a.m. 
perience. The Catalogue must he considered one of 
the most USEFUL and PRACTICAL ever published. 
PART 2, consisting of 26 PAGES, consists exclusively 
of LILIES and DAFFODILS, the varieties consti¬ 
tuting both families are fully described, many of the 
Daffodils being illustrated. 
This Catalogue, which should he possessed by all 
who take any interest in Bulbs, may be had gratuit¬ 
ously upon application to 
THOMAS S. WARE, 
TOTTENHAM, LONDON 
Amateurs’ Garden, the _ 
Bedding Plants. 
Canon Bridge’s Garden_ 
Chelone barbata . 
Chrysanthemums, feeding 
and disbudding. 
Coal Smoke Nuisance. 
Covent Garden.Auction Sales S 
Crinum amabile . 11 
Dahlia, the. 3 
Earwigs and Chrysanthe¬ 
mums . 11 
Eryngium amethystinum .. 11 
Fig trees in pots . 11 
Floral Styles. 10 
Gardeners’ Calendar . 11 
Greenhouses, heating. 4 
Hands worth Flower Show.. 14 
Insects injurious to crops.. 4 
PAGE 
Lord, Robert, the late _ 11 
Obituary-. 14 
Orchid Grower’s Calendar.. 12 
Orchids in the City. 12 
Orchid Specialities. 12 
Parkhall, notes from . 7 
Peas, notes on . 6 
Phloxes, Herbaceous. 9 
Pots, Garden. 11 
Primula Culture . 10 
Queen Mary’s Tree . 7 
Reading Flower Show. 13 
Sandy Flower Show. 12 
Scottish Notes. 7 
Shrewsbury Quarry. 8 
Shrubs, Planting. 7 
Silver Fir Sleepers . 4 
Stoke-on-Trent Flower Show 13 
Veitch Memorial Medals.... 4 
CONTENTS. 
PAGE 
7 
7 
4 
11 
6 
4 
DUTCH BULBS CHEAP. 
FRENCH BULBS CHEAP. 
ENGLISH BULBS CHEAP. 
SEE OUR WHOLESALE CATALOGUE OF BULBS, 
FREE ON APPLICATION, 
Containing List of all the best varieties of HYACINTHS, 
TULIPS, CROCUS, LILIUMS, DAFFODILS, IRIS, SNOW¬ 
DROPS, &c._ 
WATKINS & SIMPSON, 
SEED AND BULB MERCHANTS, 
JJxctcr |gtreet, fgtrand, |j£ondon, Igp.g. 
SPECIAL NOTICES! 
Next Week’s Engagements. 
Monday, Sept. 6th.—Meeting of the General Com¬ 
mittee of the National ChTj^santhemum Society at 
8 p.m.—Sale of Bulbs at Protheroe and Morris’s. 
Tuesday, Sept. 7th.—Show of Grapes and Dahlias at 
South Kensington. Meeting of Fruit and Floral 
Committees. 
Wednesday, Sept. 8th.—Glasgow and West of Horti¬ 
cultural Society’s Show.—Royal Caledonian Horti¬ 
cultural Society’s Autumn Show (two days). 
Thursday, Sept. 9th.—Flower Show in the Blackpool 
Winter Gardens (two days).—National Chrysanthe¬ 
mum Society’s Autumn Show at the Royal Aquarium. 
-—Sale of Flowering Orchids at Stevens’, and Bulbs 
at Protheroe and Morris’s. 
Friday, Sept. 10th.—Autumn Show of the Royal 
Horticultural Society of Aberdeen (two days).—Sale 
of Orchids at Protheroe and Morris’s. 
Saturday, Sept. 11th.—Sale of Dutch Bulbs at 
Stevens’. 
B. S. WILLIAMS 
Has this year been favoured with the orders for the 
whole of the BULBS required for the 
following London Parks, &c., viz.: 
HYDE PARK 
REGENT’S PARK 
VICTORIA PARK 
BATTERSEA PARK 
KENN1NGTON PARK 
BETHNAL GREEN MUSEUM 
HAMPTON COURT 
FINSBURY PARK 
SOUTHWARK PARK 
VICTORIA EMBANKMENT 
LEICESTER SQUARE 
CHELSEA EMBANKMENT 
His tenders, in open competition, having been ac¬ 
cepted by. Her Majesty’s Commissioners of Works 
and the Metropolitan Board of Works. 
EARLY ORDERS ARE SOLICITED FOR 
«ACZI!MgKS fOT Fots & Beds, 
TTTIXFS „ 
NARCISSI ,, ,» 
CROCUS 
anemqnes 
RANUNCULUS 
FSEESIAS 
UIUIUIVTS 
SNOWDROPS, &<?„ 
Special quotations will be given for large 
QUANTITIES ON APPLICATION. 
ILLUSTRATED BULB CATALOGUE is How 
Ready, and wiU Tee forwarded Gratis and 
Post Free to all applicants. 
Victoria & Paradise Nurseries 
UPPER HOLLOWAY, LONDON, N. 
“ Gardening is the purest of human pleasures, and the greatest 
refreshment to the spirit of man.”— Bacon. 
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 1886. 
The Dahlia.— Ere this number reaches the 
hands of our readers we shall he fairly into the 
midst of the Dahlia season, for the exhibition 
of the National Dahlia Society at the Crystal 
Palace may be said to be opening the ball as 
onr present issue is passing through the post. 
It is true Dahlia competitions of more or less 
interest take place at numerous local shows in 
various parts of the kingdom during the month 
of August, but first-class flowers, especially 
■when the season is late, can hardly be looked 
for until we approach the end of August, or 
September comes in. It may be that recent 
drought, for generally the soil is very dry, may 
have materially discounted hopes of fine blooms, 
but even with some recent hot days we have 
had moist nights, and such humidity is most 
favourable to the development of foliage and. 
the expanding of flower-buds. Drought at the 
roots may be met by liberal mulchings of long 
manure and ample waterings, but dry cold 
nights cannot well be overcome. Generally, 
therefore, the season, if late, has not been un¬ 
favourable to Dahlias, and where due care is 
taken, and insect pests are repressed, good clean 
blooms should be abundant. 
It is worthy of note that whilst the old 
Dahlia florists at first looked with coldness, 
indeed, almost with contempt, upon the earlier 
single kinds, and the “craze” which so effec¬ 
tually popularised them, yet they must now 
admit that their introduction has helped not 
only to give the Dahlia a new lease of life, but 
has also attracted public attention and interest 
much more largely to the fine double or so- 
called show and fancy kinds than previously 
was the case ; in fact, it may well be assumed 
that at the present moment, thanks largely to 
the new fancy for the single forms, the Dahlia 
in all its sections enjoys a udder popularity than 
it ever before possessed. The old show or 
double Dahlia flower has often been charac¬ 
terised as lumpy, stiff, heavy, formal, and other 
depreciatory appellations not more complimen¬ 
tary have been freely flung at it. Curiously 
enough those who will take the trouble to watch 
the aspect of the crowd of visitors found at any 
considerable flower show, will invariably find 
as much admiration bestowed upon these lumpy 
flowers as upon the singles ; pretty plain proof 
that after all, and in spite of adjectives, there 
is much beauty in a good double Dahlia, and a 
little examination into the flowers shows that 
beauty predominates. 
If perfection is a form of beauty, then per¬ 
fection is found allied to beauty more fully in a 
good double Dahlia than, perhaps, in any other 
florists’ flower. The curve is the line of beauty, ■ 
and in tlie contour of the Dahlias that curve is 
perfect. In formation and disposal of petal 
the flower is perfect. In variation of colour, 
whether self or parti-coloured . the Dahlia is 
perfect; indeed, it is, except in variation of 
colour or of markings, very hard, indeed, to 
excel in form and finish the best Dahlias of the 
day. This very perfection excites at once 
admiration and surprise. How any simple plant 
can evolve so much floral finish and beauty is, 
indeed, marvellous, for here we see nature 
absolutely ductile in the bands of the florists, 
and moulding her flowers to suit their tastes 
and requirements. Ho matter whether we 
look at the seifs, the flushed or tinted, the 
edged or tipped, or the flaked kinds, all seem 
wondrously formed, and if varied yet perfect. 
After all, there is good reason to believe that 
florists, in regard to their old favourites, will 
find gain rather than loss in the new interest in 
Dahlias which the single kinds have created, 
and that if we turn to the Pompon or bouquet 
kinds, how charming are they and how variously 
and wondrously marked. If too rotund or ball- 
like for some tastes, they are still most valuable 
for decorative purposes, and are, with others, 
becoming more and more popular. The flowers 
are solid and enduring; they are, if rotund, at 
least small, and may be utilised in many ways. 
For beds or borders in the garden, and for 
various uses within doors, they are most valu¬ 
able. It is true we find the pointed petals of 
tlie Cactus section rather more fancied for deco¬ 
rative uses just at present; but there is little 
probability that such taste will long endure. 
Pointed petals are not pleasing at any time, and 
seem specially undesirable in Dahlias. There 
was a certain element of novelty in the form of 
the Cactus flowers so called, and if but tliinly 
borne, at least these flowers are striking and 
enduring. Still, beyond the fanciful forms 
shown in the petals they have no special attrac¬ 
tions, and unless some more useful features be 
added to them—such as better habits, greater 
floriferousness, or earlier blooming—it is difficult 
to see bow far they may hope to bold any ap¬ 
preciable place in public estimation. 
With respect to the single kinds, it is impos¬ 
sible to write of them with other than an 
approving estimate. Certainly, there did seem 
