DAHLIAS AND THEIR TREATMENT. 37 



Dahlias are of every color and all shades, except blue, which has never 

 been obtained. In estimating a modern dahlia, form, color, and size are the 

 requisites ; — in form, the flower should be round, without a centre, the large 

 flowerets at the edge gradually growing smaller. The color should be 

 bright and clear. The size should be up to the average of dahlias, of the 

 variety of that exhibited. 



It may be useful to briefly mention a few of the original dahlias. 



Dahlia variabilis, or superflua, the origin of all the dahlias. It is a "red 

 dish purple " flower, with eight florets, and a yellow disk ; the seedlings are 

 single, double, and semi-double, and of every color and shade, pink, crimson, 

 scarlet, buflT, salmon, yellow and white. A native of Mexico. 



Dahlia coccinea. Color dull red ; the seedlings only vary to orange or 

 yellow, and this variety does not hybridize with the last described. 



Dahlia crocata. Flowers brilliant scarlet, with yellow disk. 



Dahlia Barkerii. Allied to D. glabrata, below described. 



Dahlia excelsa. Often grows 30 feet high, tall, without branches, but 

 with broad leaves. Native of Mexico. Anemone-flowered. 



Dahlia glabrata. Flowers lilac, semi-double. A native of Mexico. 



Dahlia Cervantesii. Flower orange-scarlet- 



Dahlia astrantseflora. The parent of the anemone-flowered dahlias. 



Dahlia scapigera. A beautiful little white variety, with thick, fleshy 

 flowers, one to two feet high. Native of Mexico. No double flowers have, 

 we believe, been raised from this variety. 



There are other varieties of the original Dahlia which might be described, 

 but they are not in cultivation, so we proceed with our subject, the treat- 

 ment of our modern dahlia. 



Soil. 



My experience is in favor of a compost made of old black garden mould, 

 stiff loam, and sandy peaty loam ; trench the bed twenty inches deep ; the 

 finest flowers are produced with the least trouble in a rich soil, for the 

 Dahlia is a gross feeder, though not fond of unrotted manure. Any garden 

 soil will grow this flower, but by a little attention to the soil a great im- 

 provement in both the quality and quantity of the bloom will be produced. 



Plants and Planting. 



My experience has shown that plants struck from cuttings produce the 

 most perfect flowers, the blooms being less inclined to become semi-double 

 than those borne on plants grown from tubers ; the latter often produce very 

 coarse flowers, and are always of a stronger growth. The cuttings should 

 not be rooted so early as to become pot-bound before the time arrives to 

 turn them into the border ; if the roots are strong and numerous enough to 

 keep the ball of earth from breaking, it will be sufficient. By the autumn, 

 the tubers become large and solid enough to keep well during the winter? 

 and in the spring the eyes break more freely. 



The plants should be set three feet apart between the rows, and two and 

 a half feet in the rows. Shade of every kind is injurious to the plants. 



