DAHLIA. 



tlie tubers should be carefully taken , 

 up, and laid on boards in an open shed, '. 

 or some similar place, to dry. Vv'hile j 

 drying, they should be turned every i 

 day, and the earth that falls from i 

 them should be swept away. They ; 

 should be dried in an open shed, if 

 possible, where they will be only 

 sheltered from the rain ; for if dried 

 suddenly by fire-heat or exposure to 

 the sun, the tubers are apt to wither 

 up ; and if dried too slowly, without 

 the admission of jjlenty of air, they 

 will rot. They generally do best kept 

 during the winter in a dry cellar in 

 sand or sawdust ; but any dry place 

 will do which is not too hot. In 

 spring the tubers are replanted, 

 either in pots plunged in a slight 

 hot-bed, about the middle of February 

 or the beginning of March, or in the 

 open ground in May or. June ; but the 

 dwarf early-flowering kinds may be 

 planted in the open air in April. 

 "When the tall kinds are wanted to 

 flower early, they may be forced 

 rapidly forward by being plunged 

 into stronger heat, and kept in the 

 hotbed till just ready to flower. If, 

 however, the summer should prove 

 hot and dry, the plants thus forced 

 are frequently attacked by a disease 

 called the curl, which is caused by 

 an insect called the green bug, that 

 perforates the young leaves, and occa- 

 sions them to wither and shrivel up. 

 All Dahlias are also frequently in- 

 fested with earwigs, which pierce the 

 flower-buds, and prevent them from 

 expanding. 



The beauty of the Dahlia is esti- 

 mated principally by the shape of the 

 flower, which should be perfectly cir- 

 cular, without any of the petals pro- 

 jecting beyond the others ; and if the 

 disk in the centre be seen in a full- 

 blown flower, it is considered as a 

 great defect. As this imperfection 

 disqualifies even a fine Dahlia frjm 

 competing for a prize, dishonest 



florists frequently try to remove it 

 artificially, after the flower has ex- 

 panded. The size and colour of the 

 flowers are considered as of inferior 

 consequence to the form by professed 

 florists ; though, of course, large 

 flowers are generally preferred to 



FIG. 13.— DAULIA-RINGS. 



small ones ; and the colours, what- 

 ever they may be, should be always 

 clear and distinct, without any 

 blotches, clouding, or muddiness. 

 There are several distinct classes, if 

 they may be so called, of the flowers ; 

 as, for example, the Globe Dahlias, 

 the dwarfs, the quilled, &c. As the 

 plants are very luxuriant in their 

 stems and leaves, they require some 

 kind of confinement ; and they are 

 generally either tied to cast-iron 

 stakes painted green, or drawn 

 through what are called Dahlia- 



