FOR THE HOME BEAUTIFUL 107 



end, and plant three or four inches underground. 

 Keeping down the weeds, and frequent cultivation 

 are, of course, essential to producing maximum 

 results. 



When your plants are six or eight inches high, 

 pull up all but the one best stalk, and pinch out 

 the top of this one, so that the plant may acquire 

 the branching habit. 



Frequent waterings are detrimental, producing 

 many surface roots, instead of the deep roots that 

 the plants require. Let the roots dig down of 

 themselves in search of moisture. In extremely 

 dry weather, if you then consider watering abso- 

 lutely necessary, by all means do it very thor- 

 oughly, and then not more than once weekly, 

 hoeing around the plants just as soon as the top 

 soil has sufficiently dried, so as to form a soil 

 mulch, and thus retain the moisture in the ground 

 underneath. 



Many dahlia growers have a notion that small 

 tubers are worth little or nothing. This is an 

 incorrect supposition. Many of the best varieties 

 we have produce only small and indifferent looking 

 roots, and a small tuber is just as apt, if not more 

 so, to produce better flowers than the larger ones. 

 Therefore the size of the tuber signifies nothing 

 in relation to the size of the flower. 



Should the green aphis or plant lice attack the 

 young tender shoots of your dahlias, dust them 



