DAHLIA. 
dishonest persons frequently sell 
large and healthy-looking tubers, 
which are, however, worthless from 
their being without eyes. To rem- 
edy this evil, an expedient has been 
devised of grafting the tubers of 
Dahlias in the same manner as is 
practised with the tubers of the 
Peony in France (see GRAFTING) ; 
but it requires great skill in the| 
gardener to do this successfully, as 
the tuber is very apt to rot at the 
point of junction between it and the 
graft. One mode of performing the 
operation is to take a growing shoot 
of a choice Dahlia, and to cut it so 
as to form the lower extremity into | 
a wedge shape (as shown at a@ in 
fig. 15). A barren tuber must then 
Fig. 15.—Cleft-grafting the Dahlia. 
be prepared (as shown at 6), and the 
shoot inserted. Another method is 
to make one or two holes in the 
neck of a barren tuber, and insert- 
ing a bud (see fig. 16), taking care 
to make the two surfaces fit exactly, 
and covering the edges with sealing- 
wax. ‘The pot is then plunged ina 
hotbed, till the leaves begin to shoot. 
Dahlias are also propagated by 
cuttings of the stem, taken from the 
lower part of the plant; or young 
shoots slipped off the tuber with 
182 
DAHLIA. 
part of the woody fibre attached. 
The cuttings should be struck in 
sand, or very sandy loam, under a 
bell-glass, and with bottom heat. 
Great care should be taken to shade 
them from the direct rays of the 
sun, till they have thrown out roots, 
as the leaves are easily withered ; 
and when this is the case, they can- 
not be recovered, and the cutting 
will perish, for want of a due circu- 
lation of the sap. The roots will 
generally form in a fortnight, or at 
most three weeks. 
The best soil for Dahlias is a com- 
post of equal parts of sand and 
loam, with a little peat ; which may 
be enriched with part of an old hot- 
bed, or decayed leaves. Manure 
of any kind shonld, however, be 
used very sparingly; as too much 
will cause the plant to produce 
strong, coarse-growing leaves and 
stems, instead of fine flowers. 
Striped flowers are never either 
bright or distinct in their colours in 
Fig. 16.—Peg-grafting the Dahlia. 
very rich soil. Dahlias will not 
grow well in the richest clayey soil 
without sand ; and though they will 
grow freely in sand without loam, 
the flowers will be poor, and only 
semi-double. Though they flower 
so late in the year, Dahlias are killed 
by the slightest frost ; and thus their 
beauty, great as it is, is generally 
rather short-lived. As soon as the 
leaves turn brown from frost, which 
is generally in October, the stems 
