of Dahlias. 129 



mediately into the soil. No plants, we will' venture to say, ever 

 grew more thrifty than these: the leaves were large and of a deep 

 color, the stems short-jointed and stout, and the roots soon made 

 their appearance upon the surface of the soil. The plants were 

 treated precisely as in the year previous, and as we shall soon 

 particularly notice, hut they produced a much greater abundance 

 of blossoms; indeed we doubt whether a more profuse display 

 of perfect flowers was ever seen on plants. From this ex- 

 periment, and others which we have tried, and from tlie various 

 success of plants which have come under our observation, (and 

 they have not been few,) we draw our conclusions as to the kind 

 of soil a dahlia most delights in. 



A greater portion of the Enghsh writers upon dahlias invaria- 

 bly recommend a rich loam, varying in depth from ^ghteen to 

 thirty inches. For peculiar kinds leaf mould and heath soil 

 have been stated to answer a good purpose, but not for general 

 cultivation. There is no doubt but that a good light, deep, 

 loam, upon a dry sub-soil, is as favorable a soil as can be selected 

 for the dahlia: but it does not follow that without a "rich loam" 

 they cannot be grown in perfection; we have shown to the con- 

 trary. In old gardens, in low situations, where the soil (which 

 is generally black and fine,) has been m.ade, by repeated additions, 

 the dahlia does not flourish well. The plants grow luxuriantly 

 and rapidly, are exceedingly brittle, and the branches are broken 

 by the slightest wind. What flowers may be produced, and they 

 are generally but few, often show a yellow disk. We would 

 caution cultivators to avoid such a soil as much as possible. The 

 greatest attention in planting often ends in disappointment. 



There is scarcely a garden but what has several varieties of 

 soils: when a choice can be made, we should always give pre- 

 ference to that which is sandy and light; if shallow it can be 

 easily trenched and enriched, and made one of the most suitable; 

 if loamy, all that need be done is to dig and manure its surface, 

 unless heavy, when the plants will flourish all the better if it is 

 trenched. A cultivator of our acquaintance, in the vicinity of 

 Boston, who gives much attention to his dahlias, trenched a bor- 

 der, composed, naturally, of a rich loam, to the depth of three 

 feet! The result was, as might be expected, an unusual display 

 of blossoms. The one great cause of failure, among dahlia grow- 

 ers, is simply the neglect of planting in a soil sufficiently deep 

 for the fibrous roots to run and ramify, and gather nourishment. 

 Too many there are who imagine that a hole, a foot wide and ten 

 or fifteen inches deep, answers every purpose. W^hatever the 

 soil may be, whether rich or poor, it should be light and deep. 



The best manure for dahlias appears to be, as lar as our prac- 

 tice extends, that from old hot-beds; or, if this cannot be readi- 

 ly procured, well decomposed stable dung of any kind. De- 



VOL. IV. NO. IV. 17 



