Norton's "Seven Thousand Dahlias in Cultivation"

John Biting Smith Norton was born in April, 1872 in Tennessee. In the late 1890s he moved to Manhattan, Kansas to attend the Kansas State Agricultural College (now Kansas State University).

After earning both his undergraduate and masters degrees in science, Norton relocated to Maryland where he would spend the remainder of his life. (The University of Maryland granted Norton an honorary Doctor of Science in 1923.)

He was appointed Maryland State Plant Pathologist, responsible for experimentation, botanical surveying, gathering and disseminating information, and instruction. He also shared responsibility with the State Entomologist for nursery and orchard inspections.

In 1912, Norton began selecting tomato plants for disease resistance. His research ultimately led to the production of the Norton tomato, which long became known for its disease resistance in eastern US growing regions.

A prolific writer, Norton contributed articles to magazines, bulletins, newsletters, newspapers, and to Liberty Hyde Bailey's Cyclopedia of American Horticulture. A keen gardener, Norton’s scientific dedication and skill as a researcher led him to launch a project of extraordinary ambition.

Beginning in 1921 and continuing until 1923, Norton collected more than 220 catalogs from dahlia growers in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, France, Belgium, Holland and Germany. He meticulously recorded details about each of the dahlias described in those catalogs and compiled the results into what was then the single most comprehensive listing of dahlia cultivars that had ever been created.

Published in 1924 under the title Seven Thousand Dahlias in Cultivation, this work records a snapshot of the dahlia varieties that had been bred and recorded up to that time. The majority of those varieties are no longer cultivated, and are lost to modern dahlia growers.

Today, dahlia enthusiasts have become accustomed to being able to retrieve lists of dahlia names, plentiful photographs, and sources for every cultivar in seconds over the internet. To growers in 1924, Norton’s compendium must have been an amazing resource.

There are hints that Dr. Norton intended to update his dahlia compendium as new varieties were introduced, or additional research turned up cultivars that had been omitted from the 1924 volume. He printed a 4-page booklet titled 1927 Additions to Dahlia Ratings which included a few dozen varieties. In it, Norton mentions a 1926 update with more than 600 varieties not included in the original volume, but I have not been able to locate a copy, or even confirmation that it was completed and published.

After his retirement, Norton continued to grow dahlias for sale and show at his Hyattsville home under the name Norton Gardens. In 1928 he distributed a list of dahlias he had hybridized, offering tubers of the various cultivars at prices from 30 to 50 cents each. A single variety, “Desert Gold,” was described as “very full, large golden amber decorative” and priced at five dollars.

John Biting Smith Norton died on July 10, 1966, in Maryland, at the age of 94.

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