PRIZE FLOWERS AND FRUIT 24I 



top of the pot. As soon as planted, they are thorous^^hly 

 watered and placed on a plant frame in a room where a 

 fire is kept up night and day, the stand being in the 

 darkest part of the room. About twice a week water is 

 poured in so as nearly to fill the pots. In about a 

 month the shoots appear, and in six weeks the pots are 

 removed to another room, where the temperature is 

 kept about fifty degrees. The pots are so placed that 

 they will get the morning sun. Here they remain until 

 the time for planting out. They are watered as before, 

 and turned from time to time, since the plants will lean 

 toward the sun. Starting in pots assures strong plants 

 and early bloom. 



A few bulbs generally fail to start, so I buy half a 

 dozen each year. About the middle of May the plants 

 will range in hight from one and one-half to eight 

 inches. I then plant them in rows eighteen inches apart 

 and one foot in a row. The pots are given a thorough 

 watering a few hours previous to transplanting. With 

 a garden trowel a hole is dug six inches in diameter 

 and six to eight inches deep. The plants are removed 

 carefully from the pots and set at the same depth as 

 before. P'ill the hole nearly full with soil, water liber- 

 ally, cover the wet soil with dry earth and firm 

 compactly. 



Dahlias. — Last fall my dahlias, after the frost had 

 killed the tops, had their stalks cut off about five inches 

 above the ground. I cut the soil all around the plant 

 with a spade, to the depth of a foot or more, taking 

 care to keep not less than a foot away from the center 

 of the plants. Then using the spade still, the plants 

 were carefully lifted, taking care not to break off any 

 of the attached tubers. I took considerable soil with the 

 clump and removed carefully to a storeroom where they 

 would not freeze, and permitted them to dry out for 

 several days, when they were removed to a frost-proof 



