30 THE NATURALIST. 



buds, or eyes, as the gardeners call them, are not scattered all over the tuber, like 

 those of the potato, but collected in a ring round the collar of the root. The eyes, 

 when the root is in a dry state, are sometimes scarcely perceptible ; and to discover 

 them, nnrserymen often plant their roots in a hot-bed, " to start the eyes," as they call 

 it ; that \& to say, to force the latent buds sufficiently forward to show where they are 

 situated > before they divide the roots for the purpose of forming new plants. 



Dahlias are also propagated -by cuttings of the stem, taken from the plant ; or young 

 shoots slipped off the tuber, with part of the woody fibre, attached. The cuttings 

 should be stuck in sand, or very sandy loam, under a bell glass, and with bottom heat. 

 Great care should be taken to shield 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 j and the cuttings will perish, for want of due circulation of the sap. 

 The roots will generally form in a fortnight, or at most three weeks. 



The best soil for Dahlias is a compost 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 should, however, be used very sparingly j as too much will cause the plant 

 to produce strong, coarse-growing leaves and stems, instead of fine flowers. 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, the stems should be cut down, and in about a month after, the tubers should 

 be carefully taken up, and laid on boards in open shed, or some similar place, where they 

 are protected from the rain and sun, but still have plenty of air. They should after- 

 wards be kept in a dry cellar, in sand or sawdust. 



The beauty of the Dahlia is estimated principally by the shape of the flower, which 

 should be perfectly circular, without any of the petals projecting beyond the others. 

 The size and color of the flowers are considered as of inferior consequence to the form, 

 by professed florists ; though, of course, large flowers are generally preferred to small 

 ones. 



