3(ournal 



of ti^e 

 Hortttultural ^octetp of jBteto ^orfe 



INCORPOKATEn I902 



Vnl n Nn 70 '*s"^<' FFRRllARY IQIQ Free to Members 



VUl. ll,nu. ^U Quarterly rCDIVU/ilVl, 1 iJ 1 iJ By sabscription $1.00 per year 



DAHLIAS AND THEIR CULTURE 



The dahlia, as is well known to most of the readers of this 

 Journal, is a plant that in the last few decades has had a marvel- 

 ous development and has made remarkable strides in winning 

 popular favor. When any one is heard to remark that he doesn't 

 like dahlias, it is usually found on inquiry that such a person is 

 thinking of the kinds that were in vogue thirty or forty years 

 ago, mostly kinds with stiff, formal, ball-shaped flowers. The 

 present increasing popularity of dahlias is apparently due to the 

 ease with which they may be grown, to the wondrous variety and 

 beauty of their flowers, both as to form and color, and to the fact 

 that under favorable conditions the earlier and freer-flowering 

 varieties may be depended upon to furnish flowers for a period 

 of three months, from the middle of July to the killing frosts of 

 October or November. They are, however, essentially autumn- 

 flowering plants and are at their best in September and October. 

 The chief failings of dahlias, if failings they are, would seem to 

 be the lack of perfume in the flowers and the fact that the roots 

 must ordinarily be brought in for the winter and put out again 

 in the spring. In this connection it is to be remarked that varie- 

 ties whose flowers sometimes at least exhale an agreeable odor 

 have appeared upon the market, and that in California and other 

 mild-climed regions the roots are often left in the ground through- 

 out the year without other disadvantages than a needless waste 

 of roots and a possible over-crowding of roots and stalks after 

 the first season. 



28s 



