Cultivation of the Dahlia in Private Gardens. 27 



Art. VI. On the Cultivation of the Dahlia in Private Gai'- 

 dens. By James Kennedy, Gardener to S. T. Jones, Esq., 

 The Cedars, Staten Island. 



The universal estimation in which this delightful flower is 

 held, by the lovers of the floral world, induces me to oflfer, for 

 insertion in your Magazine, the following remarks on what I, 

 with every submission to superior judgment, conceive to be a 

 method meriting adoption. An impression is entertained by 

 many, that the dahlia is a native of a very hot country ; but 

 such is decidedly erroneous, for Mexico, in North America, 

 from whence it was imported, although situated between the 

 tropics, possesses the properties of a temperate climate, highly 

 fertile, and yielding some of the rarest productions of nature. 

 It follows, then, that the United States is somewhat more 

 assimilated to the native clime of the dahlia than is gen- 

 erally imagined; and, from the growing ardor and skill 

 displayed in its cultivation, it has an undoubted right to claim 

 the palm of excellence in the culture of this autumnal emperor 

 of the floral world. 



GENERAL REMARKS. 



Those who propagate for sale generally excite their plants 

 to growth, the last week in February or first in March, by 

 which means their stock is ready for market by the first of 

 May ; but as this season is admittedly too early to risk the 

 planting of valuable dahlias, it is, therefore, unnecessary for 

 those who cultivate for their own amusement, or to supply 

 the garden of their employer, to excite their roots so early as 

 above mentioned, because the earlier the roots are put into 

 excitement, the greater the amount of attention and skill re- 

 quired to guard against the eflTects of inclement weather. I 

 therefore advise the young dahlia fancier not to form his hot- 

 bed before the first of April, and then to make it of hot stable 

 manure, somewhat larger each way than the size of the frame 

 intended to cover it. After the bed is made, allow it to remain 

 about a week to ferment, that the rank, strong heat may 

 subside. 



PROPAGATION BY CUTTINGS. 



The bed being prepared and the frame placed on it, let it 

 be covered, to the depth of three inches, with fine, sifted, 



