706 



HOKTICULTURE 



June 2, 1917 



DAHLIAS AND THEIR CULTURE] 



A Paper by Richard Vincent, Jr., Reported by Albert IVI. Herr. 



About a century and a quarter ago, 

 a little Mexican flower, soon named 

 Dahlia, was first introduced to the 

 gardens of Europe. The blossoms then 

 consisted merely of a few floral rays 

 or petals, red yellow or purple in color, 

 about a central disk of rayless yellow 

 florets. The flowers, near relatives of 

 our common weed — the beggar's tick- 

 and of coreopsis and cosmos, were only 

 small to medium size, but their light- 

 ness and grace, the purity and brill- 

 iancy of their colors, their rapid 

 changes under cultivation, and the 

 freedom of their bloom soon won them 

 popularity. 



From this single type the Dahlia has 

 since passed through one of the most 

 wonderful developments known in 

 floriculture, well justifying the species 

 name generally given to it, variabilis; 

 and today, it probably shows a greater 

 diversity in habit, size, form and color, 

 and is represented by more named 

 varieties than any other species (or 

 group of closely allied species) known 

 to the florist. Among the multitude of 

 flower forms we have almost exact 

 duplicates of cosmos, daisy, poinsettia, 

 clematis, anemone, zinnia, aster, water 

 lily, cactus, chrysanthemum and peony, 

 with many other forms peculiar to the 

 species itself. In size the blossoms 

 range from tiny blooms an inch or less 

 in diameter to huge flowers rivaling 

 the sunflower; they show every color, 

 tint and shade, excepting the blues, 

 known among flowers, and every com- 

 bination of these by suffusion or varie- 

 gation, in brilliance equalling geran- 

 ium or salvia, in delicacy approach- 

 ing roses or orchids, in range from a 

 maroon almost reaching black, to a 

 white as pure as that of the Easter lily. 

 One fault indeed they have. They 

 are practically odorless; though a few 

 scented varieties have arisen, and this 

 characteristic, like other non-existent 

 or at least hidden in early days of 

 dahlia history, can probably be de- 

 veloped or intensified should popular 

 favor demand it. 



Simple in cultural demands, adapted 

 to a wide range of soils and conditions, 

 with plants so diverse in size and 

 habit that one can readily be found 

 appropriate for any situation, afford- 

 ing a wealth of bloom over a long sea- 

 son, suitable in some of the many 

 varieties for every floral purpose — for 

 garden decoration, for bouquets and ex- 

 hibitors' tables — the dahlia now holds 

 high rank as a late summer flower, and 

 it certainly merits equally with the 

 chrysanthemums the title "Queen of 

 Autumn Flowers for the dahlia is as 

 beautiful and useful outdoors before 

 frost as is the chrysanthemum inside 

 or outside a little later. 



Yet so recent is the development of 

 the dahlia in its most pleasing and 

 useful forms, that many flower lovers, 

 particularly in the country, where the 

 dahlia should be most popular, know 

 nothing of the modern types. To such 

 persons the only idea of the dahlia is 

 conveyed by the ball-shaped blossoms 



of the old show and fancy types once 

 so popular. These are models of per- 

 fection in form, of symmetry and regu- 

 larity, and are often of most exquisite 

 coloring but they lack the grace and 

 artistic appeal that help to make flow- 

 ers so attractive and that has been 

 wonderfully developed in the newer 

 dahlias. 



What a surprise it is to many flower 

 lovers to see for the first time a collec- 

 tion of modern dahlias. Its English 

 singles, its pompons and its miniature 

 cactus types are so bright and yet so 

 dainty; its Century singles so large 

 and striking but withal, so graceful; its 

 decoratives ranging from tiny to huge, 

 are so perfect in form yet loosely built 

 and pleasing; its Cactus dahlias so re- 

 fined and delicate of petal, like masses 

 of interlaced, slender curved tubes of 

 ribbon with tints almost as varied and 

 delicate as those of changeable silk, 

 and its peony-flowered types so artistic 

 in the informal, open arrangement of 

 their long curled twisted petals so 

 gracefully held on long stems that 

 raise them far above the bright green 

 foliage. 



Soil. 



The most suitable soil for growing 

 dahlias is a sandy loam. Heavy soil 

 can be lightened by the use of coa' 

 ashes or sand, anything that will help 

 to make the soil porous. Whenever 

 possible the laud for dahlias ought to 

 be plowed or spaded up in the tall. The 

 action of the freezing helps to make 

 soil more friable. We ourselves use 

 very little manure, prefering bone 

 meal with the addition of a little pot- 

 ash, rather than manuring. If the 

 ground is spaded in the fall or early 

 winter the bone could well be mixed 

 with the soil at that time. In using 

 manure we would rather use it as a 

 mulch, put on any time after the plants 

 or roots are set. Any kind of material 

 used for mulching around the plants 

 will retain moisture and save water- 

 ing, and if the soil is watered it will 

 keep it from baking. By using bone 

 we get a more stocky growth and more 

 flowers; at least this is our experience. 



Summer Treatment. 



We find that the June-planted dah- 

 lias invariably give, us the finest ex- 

 hibition blooms. The early plantings 

 have the extreme hot weather to con- 

 tend with. This very often causes an 

 indifferent growth as the stalk gets 

 hard and the plant forms a mass of 

 small weak limbs with poor flowers, if 

 any, and more subject to diseases and 

 insect pests. This condition can only 

 be remedied by a vigorous use of the 

 knife, cutting back hard so as to cause 

 the plant to make a new and strong 

 growth. The dahlias are not exempt 

 from insect pests any more than other 

 flowers. Growers will find a few spray- 

 ings, especially during a drought, are 

 advantageous. Tobacco solution, soap, 

 etc., almost any insecticide, will answer 

 except for the aster bug which feeds 

 on the flower alone. If these are not 



too numerous hand picking Is the best 

 remedy. They can easily be seen as 

 they very seldom touch the dark color- 

 ed flowers. 



To have the dahlia to grow and show 

 to the best advantage the plants ought 

 to be tied to a strong stake, and to get 

 large flowers thin out when too many 

 limbs start out from the main stalk, 

 also disbud those that remain and 

 which are to carry the flowers. 



My interest in the dahlia has been 

 life-long. When I was a boy my father 

 who was a gardener by profession, 

 planted about one dozen roots obtained 

 from somewhere, Child though I was, 

 my interest in this flower was excited 

 and I offered my entire fortune — which 

 was sixpence, to my father to allow me 

 to call one my own. The transaction 

 was accomplished and this made me 

 at the time one of the proudest boys of 

 the land. I had something to show my 

 playmates that none of them had. 

 Inception of Our Society. 



I have for several years thought that 

 there ought to be a Dahlia Society 

 organized on broad lines to dissemin- 

 ate knowledge of this grand flower, 

 look after the new varieties and eradi- 

 cate indifferent ones, to classify them 

 and so forth, also to publish something 

 that would keep unscrupulus dealers 

 from forcing worthless trash upon the 

 public. 



In the spring of 1915 the cry went 

 out from a number of our prominent 

 growers and also the trade papers, re- 

 garding an organization. By request I 

 issued a call and we met in New York, 

 May 10, 1915. We organized and form- 

 ed the American Dahlia Society. Much 

 to my surprise I was elected president. 

 I cannot but thank those who gave me 

 this high honor, as I feel that there is 

 in this organization the nucleus tor one 

 of the largest floricultural societies in 

 North America. 



Soon after organizing, the N6w York 

 Horticultural Society offered us facili- 

 ties tor making a show in New York 

 City, in one of New York's finest build- 

 ings, and jdaced at our disposal $100 

 for premiums. We gave a show there 

 September 24 and 26, of that year, that 

 we think did credit to our young organ- 

 ization, especially when the weather 

 conditions, heat and storm were con- 

 sidered, which destroyed the flowers of 

 several of our largest exhibitors. 



The future of the dahlia as a culti- 

 vated plant on this continent is as- 

 sured and the prospects of our Society 

 are very bright. The dahlia is every- 

 body's flower, easy of cultivation, 

 beautiful in its manifold forms and 

 colorings, unequalled by very few 

 other garden flowers. Almost any one 

 can have and enjoy these favorites, and 

 that they are favorites is shown by the 

 enormous quantities that are grown 

 every year. There are thousands of 

 little gardens where this flower can be 

 grown and grown with the greatest suc- 

 cess. 



In 1916 under the auspices of the 

 American Institute we gave our sec- 

 ond annual Dahlia Show and although 

 on account of excessive rains through- 

 out the growing season that were dis- 

 astrous to many of the dahlia grow- 

 ers, our show in New York was a won- 

 derful success both in quantity and 

 quality of the blooms exhibited, and 

 in old and new varieties shown, also 



