50 BRECK'S BOOK OF FLOWERS. 



river every night, and gave my Dahlia plants a good wetting. 

 I did not have any difficulty then with the Dahlia ; it flowered 

 in great profusion, having 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 incorporated with the soil ; then the stake for the support 

 of the plant firmly fixed in the ground ; then the surface 

 levelled, 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 surface. As the plants advance, syringe the 

 foliage every night in dry weather; sift over the plants fine 

 air-slacked lime to kill the insects, if you can ; mulch the 

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

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

 than I have been in most seasons. 



Dahlias look best when planted in groups, as they hide each 

 other's ugliness, and if they flower, and a variety of colors 

 be combined in the group, they make a very imposing appear- 

 ance. 



Taking up and Preserving the Roots. When the first frost 

 strikes the Dahlias so as to blacken the plant, a few inches of 

 soil should be added to the crown of the plant, to prevent the 

 tubers from being injured by freezing, which might happen 

 unexpectedly some cold night. Taking some pleasant day, the 

 last of October or the first of November, the tops of the plants 

 should be cut down near the ground, and the stakes pulled up 



