JUNE 1, IS99. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



Propagation of Dahlias. 



leaves does not hurt the cuttings, nor 

 does it help them to root; it is done 

 merely to allow you to get more cut- 

 tings into the same surface of sand. 

 The distance apart to place the cut- 

 tings in the sand is merely a question 

 of variety. Some need more room than 

 others, but the cuttings should be at 

 least one inch into the sand in straight 

 rows, and the man that cannot draw 

 with an old knife a perfectly straight 

 line across three or four feet of propa- 

 gating bed without the aid of a 

 straight edge should be sent back to 

 ■washing pots. 



(To be continued.) 



PROPAGATION OF DAHLIAS. 



Replying to an inquiry the English 

 Gardeners' Magazine prints the follow- 

 ing on the propagation of dahlias: 



"You can increase your stock either 

 by cuttings, by division, or by graft- 

 ing; but we advise you to depend upon 

 the two former methods. Place the 

 dahlia stools in pots or boxes, the lat- 

 ter for preference, if about six inches 

 deep; cover the tubers with some good 

 light soil, and afford a temperature of 

 from 60 to 70 degrees. In from seven 

 to ten days the growth buds will show 

 prominently, and then a watering with 

 tepid water should be given. In about 

 another ten days the growths will 



have advanced considerably, and when 

 they are about three inches long and 

 have three or four pairs of leaves they 

 may be taken off, [The cut should be 

 just below a joint; this is an impor- 

 tant point, for although they may root 

 if cut off an inch below a joint, they 

 make a mass of small roots, but no 

 good tubers for future propagation. 

 Ed. F. K.] leaving the lowest joint 

 still attached to the stool. If only a 

 few cuttings are needed the shoots 

 may be taken with a tiny piece of heel 

 attached. Trim cuttings taken without 

 a heel, as in Fig. C, and immediately 

 they are made insert each one in a 

 two-inch pot, using a compost of light 

 loam to which one-third part of sand 

 has been added. Plunge the pots in a 

 hotbed of 70 degrees, water at once, 

 and give shade, so as to prevent flag- 

 ging as much as possible. 



The cuttings should be well rooted 

 in three weeks, and from that time 

 must receive air, gradually hardening 

 them off. Pot on as necessary, keep- 

 ing them close for a few days after the 

 shift. 



Where very few plants are needed 

 propagation is readily managed by di- 

 vision. Place the stools in a warm 

 house or pit as before advised, and 

 when the shoots are an inch long sep- 

 arate the tubers, so that one or more 

 shoots are attached to it, as in Fig. 



B. Pot these up in five or six-inch 

 pots, shortening the lower end of the 

 tuber to make it fit in the pot. The 

 apex of the tuber should be about 

 level with the rim of the pot. After- 

 wards treat as for cuttings. Fig. A 

 shows a dahlia stool. Figs D, E, F il- 

 lustrate the process of grafting suit- 

 able for the increase of weak-growing 

 varieties or new seedlings. E is the 

 end of a shoot cut to fit the groove 

 in the tuber D. F shows scion and 

 stock bound together ready for treat- 

 ment similar to that accorded cut- 

 tings. It should be here mentioned 

 that dahlia tubers do not possess eyes 

 over their surface, as in potatos, but 

 only at the neck or apex, where they 

 join the central stem." 



VIOLETS. 



[A paper by Robert Angus, read before the Tar- 

 rytown Hort. Society, May 25.] 



I can hardly say that the vio'.et is a 

 plant of easy culture, for it is and it is 

 not. It is, in short, a plant that can 

 be cultivated by the amateur as easily 

 as by the professional, and it is a 

 plant that sometimes baffles the best 

 professional skill. This is due, as we 

 all know, more or less to our cost, to 

 that little fungoid disease called the 

 "spot." We all know the effect of it, 

 and according to nature's laws there 

 must be a cause, but just what this 

 cause is I am afraid we are more or 

 less at sea. Location has no doubt a 

 good deal to do with it, and that it is 

 contagious there is no doubt. Plants 

 are often attacked by it where there 

 has been no chance of contamination 

 with infected plants, and often at- 

 tacked so badly that there is no rem- 

 edy. This is not always the case, how- 

 ever, and the plants can often be kept 

 in a healthy condition by close watch- 

 ing and the removal of infected leaves 

 as they appear. I will now give you a 

 sketch of the methods I employ. 



I take my cuttings about the end of 

 February. I prefer runners, but can't 

 always get them, hence I have to take 

 crowns, being very careful to select 

 my young stock from the healthiest 

 plants. In taking crowns I break up 

 the old plants, taking a single one for 

 my cutting without any of the old, 

 hard growth attached to it, so that 

 they are soft, as wiry cuttings never 

 make good plants. I dibble the cut- 

 tings into flats filled with a compost 

 of half leaf mould and sand finely sift- 

 ed, giving shade for a short time in 

 the middle of the day, until the cut- 

 tings will stand up without wilting in 

 the sun. I may state that I root them 

 in the violet house, afterwards placing 

 them in a cold frame, and hardening 

 off preparatory to planting out in the 

 garden. I generally choose a dull day 

 about the middle of April for planting 

 out. I plant them between two rows 

 of grape vines which run east and 

 west, thus affording a little shade from 

 the strong sun. They are kept clean 

 from weeds and runners, but the run- 

 ners are allowed to grow during the 

 month of August, thus giving the 



