1870.] DAHLIA-ROOTS. 503 



" November comes, with gloomy fogs begun, 

 Through which, dim-looming, frowns his furrowed face : 

 Like a huge globe of molten iron the sun 

 Seems labouring through upon his daily race. 



All nature speaks of changing and decay, 



Which is not death, but sleep, to cease in spring's bright day." 



These aspects of November bring with them cold days, and sharp 

 white morning frosts, which soon have their effect on the beauty of the 

 garden. Very shortly, therefore, the roots of Dahlias must be lifted 

 and stored away for the winter. 



It is somewhat singular that most writers on the cultivation of the 

 Dahlia from some cause omit giving instructions how to keep the roots 

 during winter. There are many different opinions current as to the best 

 mode of doing this, and a variety of plans are carried out ; but one that 

 has borne the test of many years' experience is likely to have an in- 

 terest for those anxious to be informed in regard to the matter. 



Generally speaking, the roots of Dahlias are lifted in November. 

 There is no great difficulty in keeping them through the winter. They 

 should be got up on a dry day ; but when taking them up, it is by no 

 means necessary that all the soil should be shaken from the roots. A 

 dry day is best, because the ground works better, and because the roots 

 should be dried a little before storing them away for the winter. 

 Some of the old school of florists, and probably some of a more modern 

 date, used to wash their roots very carefully indeed from all soil adher- 

 ing to them, and then dry them as some do Potatoes for exhibition 

 purposes nowadays. Careful as they were, all their attention could 

 not prevent the roots from decaying sometimes. Some growers made 

 a point of keeping them in dry sand, packed in boxes : this was the 

 plan recommended by James Hogg of Paddington, the renowned Pink 

 cultivator. Some placed them in pits as they would Potatoes, and 

 covered them with straw and mould. Others would strew them about 

 an underground apartment. Some have been known to sew them up 

 in a Kussian mat and hang them up in the coal-cellar. Others w T ould 

 put them into dry mould and stow them away underneath the potting 

 bench. One enthusiastic amateur grower used to hang his roots round 

 the walls of his kitchen, in the hope of thus escaping all chances of 

 disappointment ; rot they could not, at least from damp, and freeze 

 they could not, for the kitchen fire prevented that. Another, no doubt 

 quite as enthusiastic in the matter, recommended that, " for the tender 

 small bulbs which will not bear drying too much, that they be potted 

 on taking them up from the ground, and have a slight watering to close 

 the mould about the roots, and then kept in the dry till wanted." 

 Generally, among amateur growers, this dry place was the kitchen or 



