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CULTIVATION or THE DAHLIA. 



BY ME. J. COrECHA, YICTOIilA 2TUESERT, YICTORIA PARK. 



is now thirty- seven years ago since I first began to 

 cultivate the Dahlia. The first I ever grew was a single 

 one, and I have continued cultivating them ever since, 

 and so am pretty intimately acquainted with the various 

 stages of progress up to the present time. I shall oifer 

 a very few remarks upon the following heads : — Propagating, soil, 

 planting, training, growing, growing hard eyes, defying earwigs or 

 any other vermin, cutting down, putting away, and the properties of 

 the flower. 



Peopagatikg. — In propagating the dahlia, we always put the 

 tubers on in the second or third week in December. This may he 

 considered by some very early, but it is none too early for those who, 

 like myself, have to raise a large stock. We always cut them under 

 the joint, after they have sprouted, and then they will keep on 

 breaking out, and so you cut them again as fast as they sprout. 

 With such things as fuchsias and geraniums, you may cut above the 

 joint, or at the internode ; but with dahlias it is different, you must 

 with these cut under the joint. After you have taken oiff all the 

 cuttings you require, break off the remaining shoots, and then plant 

 the tuber, when it will produce one good plant. ■ Some persons 

 prefer pot roots to cuttings ; and this may be said in their favour, 

 that when put into the ground they grow much faster than cuttings. 

 I don't pretend to tell you the reason of this, but can assure you 

 that such is the case ; for although the pot plants will flag when 

 first put in the ground, yet after a while they recover, and then grow 

 faster and bloom earlier than plants raised from cuttings ; so also the 

 old bulbs, if planted after they are cut, will produce good plants, 

 and bloom earlier than the cuttings. 



Soil. — One thing is certain with respect to the soil for dahlias, 

 and that is, that they are very fond of a great deal of manure. The 

 compost which I used many years ago was a spadeful of mould, with 

 half a bushel of dung ; mix them well together, and then tread it 

 down to make it rather hard, for unless you do this the dung will 

 make it too spongy. This compost I used with great success, and 

 showed as fine blooms as most persons, which is proved by the 

 number of prizes received at different times ; it is a similar compost 

 to this that I use at the present day. 



Planting. — The first thing to do in the planting of dahlias is to 

 drive a stake in, so that they may be tied up at once, which will 

 remove all fear of their being broken by the wind, or other causes. If 

 this is attended to, there is nothing else of importance to think 

 about in planting them. 



Training. — The old-fashioned method was to train dahlias like 

 poplar trees — that is, to take oft' all the shoots to the height of 

 three or four feet, and thus expose the poor thing's legs to view, and 

 compel them to run up to a great height. I remember growing one 



