8o PRESENT-DAY GARDENING 



purpose, and to grow those which cannot be so described 

 is to waste space that should be turned to the best possible 

 account by the owner. 



In the early days of the single Dahlia a stock argument 

 in advocacy of the cultivation of single flowers was the 

 facility with which they could be raised from seed. Many 

 amateurs acted upon the suggestion, raised seedlings in 

 considerable numbers, and as the result filled their borders 

 with a motley crowd of plants bearing flowers of indifferent 

 quality. Many were disappointed with the singles in con- 

 sequence, and some banished them from their gardens. If 

 the raising of seedlings is entered upon, it should be with 

 some definite object in view, and be proceeded with on 

 well-defined lines, and the trial of the varieties should be 

 conducted wholly apart from the decorative part of the 

 garden. 



To obtain strong plants that will come into bloom 

 sufficiently early to admit of it being readily seen whether 

 they are worth keeping over the winter for further test, the 

 seed should be sown in March, and preferably in the first 

 half of the month. Sow the seeds thinly in shallow pans or 

 boxes filled with a light, sandy compost, cover them with a 

 sprinkling of fine soil, and give them a moderate watering 

 through a fine rose. Then place the pans or boxes in a 

 structure in which a temperature ranging between 65 

 and 70 is maintained, and if they can be placed where 

 the seed will have the assistance of a bottom heat of 

 about 70 germination will be more rapid. Until the 

 seedlings are making their appearance above the surface of 

 the soil the position of the pans or boxes is not a matter of 

 moment, but when they arc seen to be growing they should 



