SOMK OF THE BEST " FANCY DAHLIAS." 35 



appear two or tliree inches above ground ; then if, will do them good 

 service to stir up the ground with a small piece of wood, making it 

 smooth with the same stick. If sharp frost prevails, they will require 

 a few mats thrown over the net, but only to remain on wliile the frost 

 continues. If you wish to bloom under cover (w-hicli certainly is tlie 

 best plan), and do not mind the expense, you must erect a frame to 

 enclose the paths each side of the bed ; the top must be covered witli 

 something that will not admit the rain through ; the sides should be 

 covered, so as to exclude tlie sun and violent w inds ; but moderate air 

 should be admitted at all times, as it keeps them longer in their beauty. 



There are bulbs for four rows in a Tulip-bed — the first, second, 

 tiiird, and fourth (the foiu'tli is tiie middle row) ; and then the third, 

 second, and first again, which make the seven rows of a bed. 



In planting, do not put two together of the same class ; what I 

 mean is, do not plant two bizarres, and so on, side by side, but mix 

 them. Begin with a rose, then a bizarre, and then a byblomen, so 

 that you will want the same number of all the classes, except the tri- 

 colours ; these are not prized by the fancy, but at all times, if you 

 have any good ones of these sorts, plant them instead of a bizarre. 

 Wlien they have done blooming break off all the seed-pods ; tliey will 

 then soon die down, and as the foliage dies off and becomes brown they 

 may be taken up, and put away into a cool dry place, till time fur 

 planting again. 



I like what is called a bed box, as after tlie bed is once made out 

 there is no more trouble, except now and then removing a bulb from 

 one hole to another more suitable for it. By a bed box I mean seven 

 small square holes, about two inches square, across a box or drawer, 

 and these seven holes are the first row of the bed. You may have 

 boxes of any length you like, and each row of holes is a row for your 

 bed. They are then planted and taken up with very little trouble. 



I Iiave said pinch off the seed-pods as soon as the blooms are over. 

 I do not mean by this that you are not to save any seed. I advise 

 that you should, but recommend that some strong bulbs of each class 

 should be planted in another part of your garden, and the seed-pods 

 allowed to ripen, that you may begin at once with what I think the 

 most exciting part of the cultivation of Tulips. When the pods are 

 ripe, gatlier them when dry, and hang them in a dry and airy place 

 till the time for sowing, whicli will be about January or February. 

 Sow in good-sized pots, and when you sow them do not lay them flat 

 in the earth, but put them in sideways. With care, in a few years 

 they will flower, and be wiiat are termed breeders. The breaking of 

 these breeders will be a very pleasant and exciting employ, and you 

 will stand a chance of now and then getting a gem of the first water, 

 which I liope will be the result. — Dahl. 



SOME OF THE BEST " FANCY DAHLIAS." 



BY AN OLD GKOWEK. 



I AM very fond of the variegated or " fancy Dahlias," as they are now 

 mostly called, and well remember how greatly I was struck upon 



