160 ON BLOOMING DAHLIAS FOR SHOW. 



instance, two out of every three; this, while it will not injure the 

 plant, will have the desired effect of making those flowers that are 

 left finer and better than they would otherwise have been. A slight 

 top dressing of old cow manure should also be given them at this 

 period, as it is then that the plants require aid and support. 



As soon as the flowers begin to open, they at once become the prey 

 of numerous species of vermin, which, if not carefully attended to, 

 will utterly destroy all the blooms as they expand ; the most for- 

 midable "of these is the earwig, which, if suffered to remain, will de- 

 vour more or less of every petal in the flower. The best recipe that 

 I can give for this is one that I once heard tell of as being discovered 

 by a man who made a great noise about it, and spread it far and 

 wide through the land as an infallible remedy (which it really was) ; 

 the recipe was sent out at a high premium in sealed envelopes, en- 

 closed in a great many papers, and was this, " Catch them and kill 

 them." This is, in fact, the only mode that I am aware of, at all 

 efficacious for the destruction of this insect ; it is best performed by 

 having small pots on the stakes with moss inside, and going round 

 morning and evening to examine them ; the stakes also should be 

 examined, for if there be any hole, crevice, or hollow under the bark, 

 they are sure to take refuge there. These pests should always be 

 looked after as soon as possible, for one killed in the early part of the 

 season is worth a score killed later on. Another troublesome foe is 

 the slug and caterpillar, which should be conquered in the same 

 way ; but probably the most difficult of all to get rid of is a little 

 insect called the thrip, which, when it once gets upon a flower, seems 

 at once to extract all its colour and vitality, and the blooms rapidly 

 languish and die beneath it. The best remedy I have yet found for 

 them is tobacco water, which, if frequently applied, will considerably 

 check, if it does not altogether destroy them. 



But one of the grand secrets in producing the large, round, highly 

 crowned flowers we see at shows, is in the art of shading and cover- 

 ing ; there are some people, I know, that object to this system, saying 

 that it is unnatural, artificial, and so on ; but I say if a flower can be 

 made more beautiful, and more perfect by artificial methods, it is 

 right and proper to do so. There are various plans of effecting this 

 purpose, the most common of which is, simply to shade them from 

 the solar ray with a box or plain board ; this is quite sufficient with 



