122 Bulletin 128. 



posites growing wild. The dahlia, howevei, is notorious for pro- 

 ducing many imperfectly blown flowers. Some think it is one 

 of the limitations of the dahlia and must be endured. Others 

 think that it has not been in cultivation long enough. Some varie- 

 ties are nearly free from this trouble, but I do not know whether it 

 is a matter of variety or cultivation. 



The cultivation for dahlias. — In sandy soils dahlias make com- 

 paratively few tuberous roots, tend to become dwarf, and flower 

 profusely. In very rich loamy soils they make more roots and 

 fewer flowers. Too much nitrogenous food makes a rank, coarse 

 growth and few flowers. No amount of added plant-food can 

 ever atone for neglect of the physical condition of the soil. Mr. 

 Peacock is able to have fifteen acres of dahlias in continuous 

 bloom throughout a long summer of drought. Imagine this bril- 

 liant spectacle after nine weeks without a rain ! And yet, dahlias 

 are very sensitive to lack of moisture. While it is true that Mr. 

 Peacock is an expert cultivator and devotes all his time to dahlias, 

 yet like all skillful managers of the highest type, he has no pro- 

 fessional secrets. The whole story is one of conservation of 

 moisture already in the soil. Moisture is constantly rising by 

 capillary action and its evaporation must be prevented. Fre- 

 quent shallow cultivations break off the capillary tubes and 

 prevent this escape of moisture into the air. This earth-mulch is 

 obtained in the garden by lightly stirring the two or three inches of 

 surface soil with a hoe or rake. Below that depth the soil should be 

 constantly moist, not wet, throughout the whole growing season. 



The large-flowering varieties need a space of four feet square 

 to bring them to perfection as individual plants. The best 

 results are gotten from planting them in rows so that they may 

 be thoroughly cultivated. These rows should be at least five 

 feet wide if a horse is to be driven through frequently. 



There are three systems of training dahlias, that deserve notice. 

 First, a policy of non-interference which allows as many shoots 

 to come up from the roots as may. This is the proper way to 

 grow most of the varieties catalogued as pompons, dwarfs, and 

 bedders. In the large-flowering and cactus kinds, where fewer 

 and more perfect flowers are desired, this method will not do, 

 because the shoots compete with each other and exhaust the 



