HINTS TO AMATEURS. 379 



hold of, if it be an oak or a stone wall ; nothing can resist 

 his grasp. The roots will insinuate themselves into cre^dces 

 of stone, and raise a ton weight by the mere operation of 

 swelling ; but nothing was ever more completely under 

 control. It may be directed anywhere, and be made to cling 

 to anything. It may be grown up a stump, to form its own 

 head like a tree, or be made to cover a wall like a curtain, or 

 the earth like a carpet. In short, it is a magnificent ever- 

 green, adapted for a thousand purposes, trainable in any shape, 

 and not half valued, because its worth is not half known. 

 Ilfothing was ever more true than the line of the song, — 



" A rare old plant is the Ivy green." 



Pruning the Dahlia. — A little practice is worth a good 

 deal of theory ; and while we leave to others the details as to 

 tlie probable why and wherefore, we shall simply give a few 

 hints as to the mode we have successfully adopted in the 

 pruning and training of the Dahlia. We believe the practice 

 of many, who cut their plants into mere skeletons, with a 

 notion that the less the root has to do the larger the flowers 

 come, is subsiding a good deal ; we have always reprobated 

 it. We have always felt confident that the flowers derive 

 great nourishment from the leaves as well as from the roots, 

 and have always acted on that supposition. We have in- 

 variably abstained from cutting off a single branch, unless 

 two were in each other's way, in which case we removed 

 the weakest, or it was coming too weak to bear a strong 

 bloom, in which case it would do no good. It may be taken 

 safely enough as a proved fact, that the less flowers there are 

 permitted to perfect themselves on a branch the stronger the 

 flowers will come, and the more there are the weaker they 

 come, consequently there could be no mistake in thinning 

 the buds ; but the Dahlia is monstrously uncertain, and if 

 we reduced the buds as soon as they appeared we might 

 remove those that would come perfect and leave those that 

 would not. 



It is necessary, therefore, to allow the buds to advance far 

 enough to promise a perfect bloom before we select those we 

 mean to leave, and having made up our minds which afford 

 the best chance of perfection, we may remove all those in the 

 immediate neighbourhood. The benefit of this will be easily 

 seen in the increased size and perfection of those left on the 



