124 Bulletin 128. 



after frost, as the tubers ripen better and are not so likely 

 to shrivel when stored in the cellar over winter. The roots 

 should be turned upside down in the sunshine to let the water 

 drain out of the stems. 



Cut flowers of dahlias can be shipped for at least three hundred 

 miles if they are carefully packed in boxes six inches deep. They 

 are sure to spoil if more than one layer deep. Moss must be used 

 about the stems and the bunches should be small and securely 

 wrapped with oil paper They demand a great deal of room 

 for long distance shipments. For short distances, they can be 

 more compactly and easily handled. 



A good word about frost. — The first freeze is sure to kill the 

 dahlias, but frosts can be prevented. A freeze is a disturbance 

 over a large area, and is usually associated with winds. A frost 

 is a local affair, and comes on cloudless nights when no air is 

 stirring. Frost is due to the quick radiation from the earth after 

 night-fall. Clouds reflect this warm radiating energy. There 

 are two ways of preventing the heat of the earth from quickly 

 radiating off into space, — making an artificial cloud, and making 

 the atmosphere moister than the soil. A few degrees of frost 

 can be averted by simply sprinkling the plants thoroughly at 

 nightrfall. On large plantations it will pay to have a man stay 

 up all night and keep a dense cloud of smoke constantly hanging 

 over the field. This method is used among the vineyardists in 

 parts of France. Neighbors are warned to expect frost by a sys- 

 tem of alarm-bells. Foyers, or boxes of tar compounds, are 

 lighted and make a dense smudge. The smell is enough to keep 

 the attendants awake. Any damp rubbish that will burn with a 

 great smoke will do. Some weeks after all the dahlias near Phila- 

 delphia were killed by the first frost an enterprising dealer was ship- 

 ping from eight to ten thousand cut flowers of dahlias to the city 

 every day. He had saved his plants by one night's work. It 

 often hapoens that there is a light frost in early September and 

 not another sign of frost for three or four weeks after. 



The commercial possibilities are very great. It is the next flower 

 to be urged upon the notice of the American public. The 

 machinery of the floral trade is working for it. Quantities 

 of dahlias have been given away by dry-goods stores, and 



