506 



GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



- The soil should be plowed or spaded to a depth of eight 

 to ten inches, and twelve to fourteen inches is better. 

 Make the drill to receive the tubers six inches deep. 

 Plant tubers or set out plants any time in the Spring, 

 when the soil has become warm, and the flowers will ap- 

 pear in six to eight weeks. The late flowers are best, ap- 

 pearing when the nights are cool. Never plant whole or 

 undivided clumps, but single tubers, being sure that there 

 is an eve or bud on each tuber. Lay the tubers flat or 

 horizontally in the drill, with the bud or eye pointing up. 

 If stakes are to be used, set the stake when planting, so 

 the tuber will not be damaged forcing the stake down 

 on it. After placing the tuber, cover it with four inches 

 of soil, and if no other fertilizer has been used, spread 

 from a pint to a quart of pulverized sheep manure over 

 this, and then fill up the drill even with the surface. 

 Never allow the fertilizer to touch the tubers. 



If the garden has been fertilized before planting, use no 

 more fertilizer. Too much fertilizer will make rank-grow- 

 ing plants, with few and inferior flowers. 



The staking system is the most popular with amateurs. 

 The plants are set from two to four feet apart and only 

 one stem or main stalk permitted to grow from the root. 

 Tie the plants to the stakes as soon as they are two feet 

 high so the stems will have room to expand as they grow. 

 This prevents them from being blown or knocked over 

 and broken. 



The branching system is used for field culture. The 

 rows are usually placed about three feet apart and the 

 plants two feet apart in the rows. When the plants have 

 two sets of leaves, pinch out or cut off the whole top. A 

 branch will then start at each leaf. Only pinch out the 

 tops once, as the pinching delays flowering two weeks. 

 The result is four flower stalks instead of one. The plant 

 then will have a short, strong, single stalk, with four 

 branches of flowering .stalks. 



The massing system consists of planting the tubers 

 from ten inches to two feet apart. 



Some varieties produce a large number of liuds, more 

 sometimes than the plant is able to develop into good- 

 sized flowers. A proportion of the buds should be re- 

 moved as soon as they appear, and those remaining will 

 make longer, finer flowers. The more the flowers are 

 cut, the more flowers the plants will produce. 



Keep the soil well cultivated and free from weeds. 

 When the plants begin to flower, cultivation must be dis- 

 continued, as then new roots are forming which are likely 

 to be cut, weakening the plants. 



Dahlias are rank growers, composed mostly of water. 

 When the hot Summer days arrive, do not let the plants 

 suffer for water. Without ample moisture in the soil, 

 the plants are unable to produce their mass of flowers. 

 When the flowers begin to appear is the time to apply a 

 little additional fertilizer. 



Some varieties require acclimating, and if they do not 

 do well the first year, give them a second season's trial 

 in the garden. 



Seeds of Dahlias started in the house in JNIarch or April 

 will produce flowering plants the same year. _ Most of 

 the flowers will be single and inferior to varieties now 

 in commerce, but it is interesting work. The seeds of the 

 best varieties are likely to produce the best results. The 

 classes are : 



' Single Dahlias, open centered, eight to twelve petals; Show 

 or Ball shaped, the old ball shaped, full to the centre; Fancy 

 Dahlias, Show Dahlias, with fancy stripes or spots: Hybrid 

 Show, flowers fully double, loosely constructed (this class 

 borders on the decorative); Pompom. Show Dahlias under 

 two inches in diameter. 



Peony-flowered, semi-double flowers, having two. three or 

 more rows of broad, flat, loosely arranged petals, surround- 

 ing an open centre. The inner petals arc usually curled or 

 twisted, the outer more or less irregular. 



Decorative, double flowers, full to the centre, flat and some- 

 what loosely arranged petals. The centres show sometimes 

 in the last flowers of the season. 



Cactus, flowers fully double, long, narrow, curved in or 

 twisted petals, with sharp or fluted points and with margins 

 rolled backward or outward, forming in tlie outer florets a 

 more or less perfect tube for more than half the length of the 

 petal. Hybrid Cactus, flowers fully double, petals short as 

 compared with the former type, broad, flat, curved in or 

 twisted. The tubes or outer petals less than half the length 

 of the petal. 



Duplex, semi-double flowers, which have petals more than 

 twelve in more than one circle. 



Collarette of the single type, with a circle of smaller, nar- 

 rower rays, usually of a different color, in front of the longer 

 rays, forming a collar between them and the open centre. 



Anemone, one row of longer petals, like single Dahlias, sur- 

 rounding a rosette of compact petals in the- centre. 



DAHLIAS IN THE FLOWER GARDEN 

 Mrs. Charles H. Stout 



T^HE^ Dahlia is one of the few plants which will adapt 

 itscit to any and every kind of garden. A few in 

 the back yard, or several in the large garden, or masses 

 growing along the edge of a grea't lawn, all give 

 satisfaction in their environment, and are a mass of bloom 

 for a longer period than nearly any other kind of flower. 

 Aloreover. it is good for them to be picked, and the great- 

 er number carried into the house means more buds to 

 open outside. 



Unfortunately most people who have the modern 

 dahlias grow them for cut flowers only, planting a 

 heterogeneous collection in a corner of the vegetable patch 

 or some other out of the way place. It is a pity, and I 

 hope that more dahlias will be seen this year in flower 

 gardens both large and small. 



The colors and forms of this most beautiful flower are 

 so varied that there are types to please any taste, what- 

 ever it mav be. Some people dislike red. There are thou- 

 sands of dahlias in white, yellow, orange, pink, lavender, 

 purple, and even black — or as near black as nature will 

 allow. There are some who prefer red. There are reds 

 from the giant brick red Douzon, the blood red Mina 

 Burgle, the rose red Grampion, the cerise red Creation, 

 to the scarlet Breeze Lwivn. 



There are people who love great massive types ; there 

 are others who like the dainty "star'" types, the pom- 

 poms, the collarettes or the little "Mignon." lately intro- 

 duced. Then there are still others v/ho prefer the graceful 

 peony or cactus dahlias. Among the ten thousand named 

 varieties represented in the official check list of the Amer- 

 ican Dahlia .Society, surely there are plenty to choose 

 from. 



The dahlia is the poor man's orchid. True there are 

 many novelties listed in the catalogues this Spring, for 

 which the originators are asking fabulous prices ; but all 

 dahlias are so cheaply .grown and increase so rapidly that 

 it takes but a short time before the prices on these become 

 iKirmal — if they survive at all. 



In planting dahlias in the garden let me make a few 

 suggestions for color combinations. Try four plants of 

 Madonna, and in front of these set three plants of Hortn- 

 lanus Fiet. .\t the feet of the latter put six plants of the 

 Nizriis or Albion. Madonna is sometimes classed decora- 

 tive and sometimes hybrid cactus, but its graceful habit 

 of growth is more like the peony dahlias. It is pure white, 

 and, disbudded, gives large and dignified blooms. Hortu- 

 lanus Fiet is stocky, a foot or two lower, and is always 

 covered with a mass of creamy pink decorative flowers. 

 \'i-rciis and .llhion are both mignon dahlias, growing 

 eighteen inches high, bearing pure white single flowers. 

 They should be planted about eighteen inches apart, and 



