November.'] DAHLIAS. 127 



GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 



When the plantings of hulbs, &c., are finished, every 

 part of the garden should have a thorough cleaning. All 

 annual flowers will have passed the season of their beauty ; 

 therefore, remove the decayed flower stems or haulm, and 

 trim off the borders. Dig all vacant ground, especially 

 that intended to be planted with shrubs in the ensuing 

 spring, which ought to be dug from one to two feet deep. 



NOVEMBER. 



DAHLIAS. 



IT is not advisable to delay lifting the roots of the Dahlia 

 after the first of the month, as frequently severe frosts 

 set in about this period, and would totally destroy them. 

 Choose a dry day for the purpose, and with a spade care- 

 fully lift every root, divesting it of any earth that may ad- 

 here thereto, but not to shake it off, as thereby the neck of 

 the tubers would be bruised, and probably entirely destroy 

 the vitality of the plant for the coming season. With us, 

 the frost generally destroys the foliage and stems of the 

 plants from about the middle of October to the beginning 

 of the present month. The stems should then be cut to 

 within a few inches of the ground: when the roots should 

 be lifted directly thereafter, and the labels properly secured 

 to them with metallic wire. Many opinions are given for 

 the best method of securing them during winter from 

 the effects of frost, which is their certain destruction. In 

 this country, a dry close cellar, that will retain a tempe- 

 rature of not less than thirty-five degrees, and not over 

 forty-five, will be the most proper place : if the tubers are 

 small, they should be covered with dry sand or earth. The 

 method we have adopted with our finest kinds, which has 

 resulted in complete success, is to lay dry boards on the 



