40 MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN BULLETIN 
varieties will appear, but frequently they are pretty enough 
to be worth saving. Dahlias raised from seed usually produce 
good tubers the first season, and when a particularly fine 
variety is secured it can be perpetuated by dividing the tubers 
in subsequent years. Some gardeners raising dahlias from 
seed and securing a great variety of good flowers are tempted 
to name them and place the tubers on sale. The varieties of 
dahlias, as well as of many other flowers, are already so very 
great and many of them so similar that any attempt to in- 
troduce new kinds without first registering them with the 
particular flower society should be discouraged. 
To obtain best results the dahlias should be started indoors 
in some sunny window about the first part of April. The 
seed should be planted in boxes containing finely sifted soil 
and covered about a quarter of an inch. The soil must always 
be kept moist, and it is better if the box is covered with a pane 
of glass or piece of paper until the seeds break through the 
surface. The boxes should be kept in a cool room, as rapid 
growth in a warm room is detrimental to the plants. When 
the seedlings are about two inches high they should be trans- 
planted into other boxes, being spaced two inches apart, or, 
better still, they should be potted in small pots. Care must 
be exercised not to let the plants become pot-bound at any 
time, and they should be shifted into larger pots when the 
roots become too crowded at the base of the ball of soil in the 
pot. Ifa hot-bed or cold-frame is available good stocky plants 
can be had for planting outdoors some time in May. After 
planting out, two systems of training may be practised: 
(1) All side shoots may be pinched off, only the central shoot 
being allowed to grow. This method will produce few but 
very fine flowers. (2) When quantity of bloom. is the object 
in the garden the plants may be pinched to about four main 
branches. No matter how they are trained, however, dahlias 
should always be staked, as sometimes a summer storm accom- 
panied by a heavy rain lays them flat. 
Failure with dahlias one year should not discourage the 
amateur from trying a second time. The behavior of the 
plants varies from year to year and unless conditions are 
ideal they will grow but give very few blooms. Except in a 
few favored localities in this country dahlia seasons are 
variable. There is little doubt, however, but what seed sown 
in the open in this locality, on account of the long growing 
season, will produce blooming plants before frost. 
