IliU CAAADIAA' JiUKJlCULTURlS': 



Dahlias should have sufificieiit water 

 given them at the roots to keep the soil 

 always fairly moist. Soapy water is bene- 

 ficial to dahlias applied to the soil near the 

 roots. A solution of liquid manure made 

 by diluting a pail full of cow manure in 

 about ten gallons of. water — or in that pro- 

 portion if a smaller quantity is required — 

 will also help dahlias considerably. An ap- 

 plication of the Hquid manure once a week 

 will benefit them. Dahlias like a moist 

 atmosphere to grow in. The foliage should 

 be sprinkled or syringed every day if possi- 

 ble during very hot dry weather. Early 

 morning or evening is the best time to 

 sprinkle them, clear cold water being the 

 best for this purpose. If large specimens 

 are wanted on the dahlias, all the small weak 

 stems should be cut out, as from two to four 

 main stems is sufficient if large blooms are 

 required. Some of the side or lateral bloom 

 buds can also be picked off if the buds are 

 very weak. If quantity rather than quality 

 is required, more growth can be left on the 

 plants. The growth of dahlias should be 

 well staked up, as it is very brittle and liable 

 to be damaged by storms. 



AbTERS. 



A mulch of long, strawy manure, or of 

 short lawn grass trimmings spread thinly 

 about an inch in depth around aster plants 

 will help them to develop their flowers in 

 very hot dry weather, and the plants will not 

 require as frequent or copious supplies of 

 water when the soil around them is well 

 mulched. This mulching process is also 

 very beneficial to newly planted fruit or 

 shade trees, especially during the hot months 

 of July and August. 



AGAVES. 



These succulent plants, which are often 

 misnamed cactus, require very little water 

 even during summer time. Being natives of 

 tropical countries, where they grow and 

 thrive on the almost arid deserts, where 

 oftentimes there is no rainfall for months at 



a time, they are particularly adapted for ex- 

 posed sunny positions on the lawn. Good 

 drainage at the bottom of the tub or pot they 

 are in, and not too frequent waterings, are 

 essentials necessary to be thoroughly suc- 

 cessful with these plants. More agaves 

 are injured or perhaps eventually killed by 

 giving them too much water than from any 

 other cause. Watering them once a week, 

 even during the hottest weather, will usually 

 be sufficient, unless the tub or pot they are 

 in is very full of roots. 



There is no class of plant that gives the 

 lawn a more tropical looking appearance in 

 summer time than a few agave plants. 

 There are a great many species of agaves, 

 the most common and probably the most 

 serviceable being the plain green variety, 

 Agave Americanus, or the variegated type 

 of the same species. Agave Americanus 

 variegata. The greatest objection to these 

 agaves is that they are slow growing, and 

 the points and edges of their thick fleshy 

 leaves are very prickly, which make them 

 difficult to handle. 



The greatest enemies to successful agave 

 culture are over-watering and a continued 

 low temperature and frost, although the 

 first light frosts of autumn or the white 

 frosts of spring seldom injure them, as the 

 thick fibre-like coating of their fleshy leaves 

 is able to resist two or three degrees of 

 frost very efifectually. Agaves can be kept 

 over winter in a warm, fairly well lighted 

 cellar or basement. The dry heat of a fur- 

 nace is not as injurious to th'em as it is to 

 many plants. A dark, cold, damp cellar 

 does not suit agaves in winter. If the 

 plants are small it is better to keep them in 

 the window in winter and give them very 

 little water than to put them in a damp cold 

 cellar. 



OLEANDERS. 



These plants like to be treated in almost 

 a directly opposite manner to the agave, es- 

 pecially in summer time, as they like a good 



