126 On tlie Cultivation and Management 



Art. III. ObservatiGns on the Cultivation and Management 

 of Dahlias. By the Editor. 



The dahlia is so well known and generally cultivated, that it 

 may seem almost superfluous to devote an entire article to their 

 management. Already several papers have appeared in our pre- 

 vious volumes, in which have been detailed their propagation and 

 growth, and some account of the first introduction of the origi- 

 nal species into Europe. With the information contained in 

 these articles, which have been contributed by the most success- 

 ful growers, it would seem that any one, who has had much ex- 

 perience in gardening, might gather a knowledge therefrom sufii- 

 cient to render his practice successful, and that even those who 

 have never cultivated a plant at all, by following the rules laid 

 down would meet with partial success. But the dahlia, like ev- 

 ery other plant, has its favorite soils and situations, and there are 

 many circumstances connected with their growth, which often, 

 under what would appear the very best management, cause them 

 to fail altogether. 



It is but a few years since the double dahlia was first intro- 

 duced to this country; but so safely are the roots conveyed to 

 any distance, with such facility are they increased, and so easily 

 are they cultivated, that they have been spread from one end of 

 the Union to the other. In town and in city — decorating alike 

 the cottage of the humble, and the mansion of the wealthy — often 

 flourishing w-ith the same vigor on the partially barren plain as in 

 the highly cultivated garden, they have become, as their splen- 

 dor fully entitles them, one of the greatest and most valuable or- 

 naments of the garden. Blooming at a season when the flower 

 border is fast fading in beauty, increasing in splendor until the 

 frosts and chilling winds of autuinn cut them suddenly off", and 

 more varying in the richness and brilliancy of their colors than 

 any other plant, they can justly claim a great portion of attention 

 at the hands of the cultivator. 



But we need not stop here to eulogize their merits; what all 

 concede to be superb, who have ever had an opportunity to see 

 the flowers, it is unnecessary for us to praise. The varieties in- 

 crease in splendor every year, and to such perfection has their 

 cultivation arrived, that it is difficult to select out of thousands 

 of seedlings only a few which are superior or even equal to those 

 previously produced. Hitherto the production of seedlings, 

 particularly of those considered by good judges as worthy of 

 cultivation, has been confined almost wholly to England. The 

 Dutch florists and the French amateurs and nurserymen have 

 each raised thousands of very elegant double dahlias; but for 

 symmetry of form, variety of color, and elegance of habit, the 



