DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF FLOWERS. 183 



such as we rarely have in this country. It frequently be- 

 gins to flower, and promises well in July, but on the last 

 of that month and in August our scorching sun and arid at- 

 mosphere, together with the insects that prey upon it, op- 

 erate so unfavorably that it hardly recovers before it is 

 overtaken by frost. While I resided in Lancaster, my 

 garden was situated on the banks of a branch of the 

 Nashua River. In hot weather, a damp or mist rose from 

 the river every night, and gave my Dahlia plants a good 

 wetting. I did not have any difficulty then with the Dah- 

 lia ; it flowered in great profusion, and I have had nearly one 

 hundred blooms upon a plant at one time. The mode of 

 cultivation then was : first, a hole excavated two or three 

 feet across, and about fifteen inches deep, the poor soil 

 taken out, and its place supplied with the adjoining surface 

 soil, then about two shovelfuls of strong manure, partly 

 decomposed, from the stable, thrown in and well incorporat- 

 ed with the soil ; the stake for the support of the plant 

 firmly fixed in the ground ; after which the surface level- 

 led, and all was ready for planting. If. tubers are used 

 without being forced, they may be planted any time after 

 the middle of May, covering the crown of the tuber about 

 two inches, slanting the other end downwards. Plants, 

 raised in pots or cuttings, may be turned into the ground 

 any time in June. I have succeeded in producing fine 

 flowers from dry tubers planted the first of July. As a 

 general rule, let the soil be rich and deep ; let the plants 

 be well attended to by tying up to the stake, which 

 should be strong, and from five to six feet above the sur- 

 face. As the plants advance, syringe the foliage every 

 night in dry weather ; sift over the plants fine air-slacked 

 lirne to kill the insects, if you can; mulch the ground 

 about them ; give them guano-water twice a week in Au- 

 gust ; and, it you are rewarded for your pains, it is more 

 than I have been in most seasons. 



