BULBS AND TUBERS 



205 



The potato, set under ground, produces, also under ground, 

 several others of the same kind. A small potato (about the 

 size of a hen's egg) may be planted, or a larger one may be 

 cut into pieces for planting, each having one or more eyes. 

 See the planting list. 



The Jerusalem artichoke will not be popular among us till 

 we import the fine European varieties. It is a nourishing 

 vegetable, and yields yellow flowers. Though the tubers 

 are hardy, they 

 should- be dug in 

 the fall, lest they 

 spread and be- 

 come a pest. See 

 the planting list. 



The canna 

 makes large 

 bronzed leaves, 

 with a spike of 

 red or yellow 

 blossoms. It 

 can be raised 

 from seed or 

 tubers. Give two 

 feet of space. Extra large tubers may be cut, as are potatoes. 

 For early results, seeds or tubers may be started in frames. 



The dahlia, like the canna, has been very much improved 

 of late, and gives some of the handsomest August and Sep- 

 tember flowers, in many forms, sizes, and colors. They 

 may be raised from seed, but tubers are best and surest. 

 Set two feet apart. Single tubers have but an eye or two, 

 and should generally not be cut; in the fall they will be 

 found to have produced a clump of tubers, which in the 

 spring can be divided and set separately. 



FIG. 109. A clump of dahlia tubers, produced in a 

 year from a single one. 



