Origin of the Dahlia.

THE first naturalist who was sent to explore the hitherto unknown treasures of the New World, was Franciscus Hernandez, physician to Philip the Second of Spain, under whose patronage, and at a great cost, the mission was undertaken. In such a country, where no botanist had ever trodden, the success which attended his labors was of course very great. So extensive were his discoveries, and so new and varied were the forms of animal and vegetable existence which he described, the scientific men of that age regarded his statements with suspicion, and, in some instances, did not fail to express their incredulity in what they supposed to be the traveler's fabulous assertions. Notwithstanding, however, the opinions which at the time were current, it is now found that in every particular he was correct in what he had stated. Hernandez did not live to superintend the publication of his discoveries; but after his death they were collected into one large folio volume, profusely illustrated with woodcuts, and entitled, "Rerum Medicarum Nova Hispaniæ Thesaurus." In this work the Acocotli is figured in three different forms, and described at considerable length. It is stated to be an herb bearing leaves similar to those of the Mountain Spikenard (Valeriana tuberosa, wild), which are divided into five leaflets, of which some are sinuated. The flower-stalks, which are nine inches long, are slender and smooth; and the flowers pale red and stellate. To this is added an account of its medicinal virtues, which we suspect are more imaginary than real. This, then, for one hundred and fifty years afterwards, was all that was known of this plant; those who believed the report of the traveler knew that such an one existed somewhere in the mountains of Quauhnahuac, but nothing more, for there it was allowed to remain.

It was not till 1789, when Vicentes Cervantes, director of the Botanic Garden at Mexico, forwarded seeds of this plant to the Royal Gardens at Madrid, that it had ever been seen in Europe. The plants produced from these seeds flowered in 1790. At that time the Royal Gardens were under the direction of Abbe Cavanilles, who, recognising in this new introduction a genus hitherto unknown in botanical science, applied to it

557

the name DAHLIA, in honor of M. Andrè Dahl, a Swedish bontanist. Among the plants produced in the Madrid Garden, Cavanilles discovered, as he thought, three distinct species, all of which he described and figured in his great work, "Icones et Descriptiones Plantarum, etc.," under the names of Dahlia pinnata, rosea, and coccinea, the former of which was a sort of semidouble, but the others proved only to be single flowers. Little progress seems to have been made in their cultivation, and it is doubtful whether any attempt had been made to multiply them from seed, for so long as ten years after their first introduction, we find Cavanilles distributing to various Botanic Gardens in Europe the identical three varieties he had first raised. It was not till 1802 that they were sent to the Jardins des Plantes, at Paris; and about the same time they were also forwarded to M. Decandolle, at Montpellier. The gardens of Berlin and Dresden seem to have had them some time before this, for so early as 1800 we have an account of Dahlia rosea being sent from Dresden to Berlin. About the period that Cavanilles sent his plants to the Jardin des Plantes, at Paris, the illustrious naturalists, Humboldt and Bonpland, in descending from the table land of Mexico towards the coast of the Pacific Ocean, found the Dahlia in a prairie between Areo and Patzcuaro, at a hight of nearly five thousand feet above the level of the sea. The plants then discovered were transmitted to the Botanic Garden at Mexico, and in 1804 transferred to the Jardins des Plantes, and several other gardens throughout Europe, and among them was found the D. coccinea of Cavanilles. On its first reception, in 1802, in the Paris Garden, M. André Thouin, director of that establishment, judging from the climate of the country of which the Dahlia is a native, had it placed in a stove and treated as a tropical plant. In 1804 he published an elaborate treatise, illustrated with engravings, in the "Annales du Museum d'Histoire Naturelle," on its culture and management; but from all we can discover, it was many years after this before any progress was made in the production of good double flowers.

Till about this period, the generic name established by Cavanilles had been universally adopted by botanists throughout Eu

rope; but Professor Wildenow, of Berlin, laboring under the impression that the name adopted by Cavanilles had been previously applied to another plant by Thunberg, he, in the fifth volume of his " Species Plantarum," discontinued the name of Dahlia, and substituted that of Georgina, which he founded in honor of Professor Georgi, of St. Petersburgh.* For some years this new nomenclature was pretty generally followed, particularly in Germany and central Europe; and even so recently as in some of the writings of Loudon, in our own country, it was preserved; but as it was clearly shown that the precedence must be given to Cavanilles, the name of Dahlia was again restored, and still continues, as in all probability it ever will, to be associated with this now justly popular and noble flower.

Several cultivators on the continent, observing the natural disposition of the Dahlia to sport from its original form, began now to direct their attention to raising new varieties, and treating it as a florist flower. Many attempts were made to procure double flowers, but without success. In 1806, the gardener at Malmaison forwarded to the gardener at St. Cloud, all the three varieties which were then known, namely, coccinea, purpurea, and crocea. These produced seeds, which were sown, but, notwithstanding all the attempts which were made year after year, they still remained single. In Belgium, however, they were more successful; for we learn that in 1812, M. Donkelaar, botanic gardener at Louvain, having sown a quantity of seed, raised plants which the first year produced all single flowers. Disappointed, but not discouraged, he from these saved a second quantity, which in their turn produced semi-double flowers; and, emboldened with the success which attended this second essay, he from the best of these semi-double flowers procured a further supply of seed, the produce of which, in the following year, presented him with three plants which bore flowers perfectly double. These were, therefore, the first really double flowers which were ever pro

*In a recent number of the "Revue Horticole," a

correspondent goes a long way out of his road to indulge a spiteful ebullition against "les Anglais," because they have, as he says, taken the honor from the Swedish botanist by changing the name of Dahlia to Georginia, in honor of one of their Kings-George!

duced. After this there were many varieties raised of all shades and depths of color, and from this time the Dahlia began to attract for itself a measure of interest which has gone on increasing, and which even at the present day seems to be as great and unabating as if it were a plant of the most recent introduction, and which was still a novelty in the midst of us.

Hitherto we have been treating of the Dablia as a plant confined exclusively to the continent; it must not, however, be inferred from this that it was not known and appreciated as soon, and as greatly, in our own country. The first account we have of its introduction to this country was by the Marchioness of Bute, in 1789, from Madrid, where the Marquis was then residing as ambassador from England at the court of Spain. It does not appear that the roots or seeds, whatever they were, had been duly tended or taken care of, for certain it is that it never became generally known, or was ever even partially distributed. In all probability it shared the fate of many hundreds of other plants which at that period were sent home by collectors and travelers to Kew Gardens. The space for the continual accessions which were taking place was far too limited, and the consequence was that a large number of the plants perished, either from neglect or too much crowding. The same liberal spirit which now exists in that establishment did not prevail in those days, by which new plants are disseminated throughout numerous large public and private establishments in the country; so that if the original plants in the Royal collection should be lost, a fresh supply can always be procured from those to whom they had been supplied. It was not so at the time of which we are writing, and the consequence was, when a plant which was unique died, it was entirely lost to the country. Such was the case with the Dahlia, for, besides the mere fact of its introduction, nothing more was known of it till 1804, when seeds were again forwarded from Madrid-on this occasion by Lady Holland. A plant of the Dahlia coccinea had, however, been in the country before this, because John Fraser, the celebrated traveler, who established a nursery in Chelsea, had flowered it in 1803. On the occasion of this second introduction, seeds were forwarded to M. Buonaiuti, who was at that time libra

559

in raising all the three varieties, and as they flowered they were illustrated in the leading botanic periodicals of that day. Great attention was paid to the cultivation of the Dahlia in this country, and with various degrees of success; but it is only within the last twenty years that it has been brought to that degree of perfection which now constitutes it one of the most attractive of our florist flowers.-Hogg's History of the Dahlia.

Hollyhocks.

If we had not written upon this flower years ago, and had not been the first to recognise the improvements made by our friend Mr. Baron, who has been so grossly misrepresented in a recent vamped-up book, we might want an hour with the hollyhock: referring, however, to our former writings, and giving our old acquaintance, Mr. Parsons, the credit for the following hints, a few minutes will serve us. Mr. Parsons has been a most successful reiser and cultivator, and there is nothing like bookmaking in the subjoined practical lessons. "Always depend on young plants if you wish to exhibit. Never leave more than one stem; and if you intend to show single blooms, thin out to a great distance; you can thus get blooms eight or nine inches in diameter. Never allow laterals, and cut the crown out of the stem in its early growth, if likely to get too high; this keeps them dwarf, and gives extra strength to the blooms; hollyhocks are very fond of water in the growing season, and plenty of liquid manure, but can not be kept too dry in the winter, if they do not flag. I always keep my plants in a cold frame through the winter, and turn out into good, deep, rich soil about April; my idea of the shape is that the guard-petal must be thick, round, and smooth, the center well filled, and all free from notch or pocket. I also think that half a globe is a little too much for the rise in the center, but it must not be much less." Mr. Parson's notions of perfection differ very little from "The Properties of Flowers."

His lessons on growing them are worth a dozen volumes by persons who can not either grow the flower, nor appreciate a good one when they see it. It is quite time the public discriminated between original

Directions for Exhibitors of Roses.

THE point which is of the greatest consequence in a stand of roses is freshness, for without this the censor ought to put the stand aside altogether, consequently all other good qualities would be lost. The necessity, therefore, of cutting them at the latest moment before showing must be obvious. But rain, sun, and wind will make every rose on a tree wither and discolor on the edges; we have, therefore, first, to prevent a rose from blowing about, by fastening it firmly to something-an upright rod stuck in the ground is the most simple; next, we must cut away or tie back every shoot, branch, or even leaf, that can by possibility be blown against the rose; the weather will not then have half the effect on the blooms, if we can do no more; but any shade that will keep off the burning sun, no matter how it is contrived, is an additional security, and if this be so placed as also to throw off the rain, so much the better.

We now come to the selection and cutting, and now we must look to the conditions. In the summer months of June and July they should be shown in single blooms, like dahlias, without leaf or bud, because there are plenty of large blooms that will bear this. Select those that are full, but not over-blown, and that do not show their centers. As there are many roses of very nearly the same color, avoid having two alike, because twelve dissimilar varieties or any other number are required, and if they are alike when fully bloomed, it is no use to show they are different sorts. Let them be distinct; and as they will not be all of a size, let the backs be the largest, the center row less, and the front smallest, but have them, if possible, alike for size in each row; nor should we select sorts that are too diminutive, even in the front. Have twelve different colors, if possible, and place them to the best advantage. If two dark ones are at the top corners, have two light ones under them and next them, and again have dark ones under the light ones in the bottom row. If they are to travel far, see that nothing touches their petals, for no flower more easily bruises and spoils. The next grand

point to freshness is contrast. He who can show the most distinct colors, presuming the blooms are perfect, will beat roses double the size which are too much alike. There must be no half-bloomed flowers in this mode of showing.

If the show is in August or September, the kind of roses best adapted for show look well in bunches; and Societies ought to restrict the size of these rather than the number in a bunch, more especially as one stem will comprise a large head of roses in some kinds, and half-a-dozen would look nothing in others. Bunches from three to six inches across are the most effective, and there should be a distinct vacancy between the bunches. Pay the same attention to freshness and contrast, as well as to the arrangement. But Societies should lay down distinct rules, and abide by them. We saw at one country show a stand put up in tubes, with one stem only, but with many buds and several flowers; others had single blooms bedded in moss; others, again, had single flowers, with a leaf and a bud; and although the conditions were that they should show them elevated enough for the under part to be seen, the Secretary himself had his so that nobody could see whether they were capable of holding up the petals, or would fall to pieces if removed.—Ibid.

Sea-Kale,

SEA-KALE is partial to a light or sandy soil, and the soil must be deep to produce it first-rate. I always secure a depth of thirty inches. A celery bed, in what is termed the Scotch fashion, is a most excellent preparer. These beds with us are about six feet in width, and carry two rows of highlycultivated kale. I need scarcely observe, that such ground is highly manured, and very deep, and receives a good coating of salt after the celery is removed, which is generally immediately after Christmas, as we employ an early bed for the purpose. The salt, of course, is well incorporated with

the soil.

On such a prepared soil I annually plant as much as I force-say about two hundred crowns or roots. The rows are nearly four feet apart, and the plants nearly three feet apart in the row, or rather three feet between each pair of plants, for I plant a pair

of crowns at each station; each pair, therefore, has about half a yard on each side, clear space, to extend on.

Now, it is proper here to observe, that these are young plants of a year old, for I sow a drill annually for this purpose, on rich soil, and cultivate highly through the summer; they are about a foot in length, and nearly an inch in diameter at the crown at planting time. Our planting takes place in the middle of February.

In the early part of May most of them produce blossom spikes; these, however, are not suffered to grow long, for as soon as the plant has two or three good leaves at the base, the blossoms are pinched off. In former years, I used to cut the crown off below the sprouting point; but this proved bad practice, although backed by many professionals-as, although Kale will bud at any point, such practice lays the foundation for canker, or vegetable gangrene, to which this plant is much liable. This pinching, or cutting away the blossom spikes, induces a development of a class of young shoots at the collar, which are the very things for future buds, or crowns; and, moreover, no stagnation of the vital action ensues-the root is sustained in continuous play.

In a few weeks, the crowns are found thronged with sprouts of a peculiarly vigorous character, and now a sharp-pointed knife is passed through them, thinning out all but about four on each crown, and, of course, selecting the prime ones.

I need say little more about the out-doors culture of this delicious and universally esteemed vegetable, which finds its way to the table of Princes, from November until the middle of May; of course a due amount of cultivation will be given. I must now bound over a portion of my subject, and chat a little about this forcing. I may observe beforehand, however, that I have deemed it expedient to use a good deal of the charred materials of the rubbish, or weed yard, on every possible occasion, whether in the soil, or as hand-dressings, when dressings are needed. Such substances are well known antiseptics, and, as the Kale is so liable to gangrene, their application would seem a common sense affair. However, I can only say, that in proportion as I have applied such with diligence, my success has increased; indeed, I can not speak too highly