THE DAHLIA 193 



the dahlia will depart. You will wake up one fine crisp morning 

 in late October, to find your dahlia flowers hanging limp, and the 

 stems a seared and blackened mass. Then the question arises, 

 What shall be done with the tubers that have been formed at the 

 base of the plants ? The grower is naturally anxious to save 

 them for purposes of propagation in the following spring, and if 

 he have had no previous experience in the cultivation of dahlias 

 he very naturally desires to know whether it is safe to leave 

 them in the ground throughout the winter months. As a general 

 rule for most parts of the country I should strongly advise against 

 running the risk of disaster, which the leaving of the tubers in the 

 ground involves. The dahlia is not a hardy plant, though it is a 

 perennial. The newly-formed tubers at the base of the plant are 

 succulent and sappy, and if they be left undisturbed in the ground 

 a prolonged spell of frost will ruin them. They will become 

 blackened masses, and will rot away. In warm and unexposed 

 places it may be possible to preserve dahlia roots in the ground 

 during a mild winter by covering their resting-place with a good 

 thick layer of littery manure or ashes ; but if it is desired to main- 

 tain the stock the risk is too great to be run even when these 

 precautions are adopted. 



What, then, is the best plan to follow ? Diagram 21 will help 

 the beginner to solve his difficulties. As soon as the first severe 

 frost has blackened the stems they should be cut down to within 

 six inches of their bases. Next with a spade cut niches six or 

 eight inches deep round the extremity of the tubers. This will 

 facilitate the process of lifting, which should be done with the 

 utmost care, so as to avoid either cutting or bruising the tubers. 



As each plant is lifted tie to one of the stem stumps a stout label 

 bearing a legible record of the name and colour of the variety. 

 It is essential that this be done, otherwise there will be endless 

 confusion when the time comes in the next year to begin the opera- 

 tion of propagation. 



When all the plants have been lifted and labelled carefully 

 spread them out on a mat or a piece of sacking on the floor of a 

 dry, frost-proof shed or greenhouse. Here they should be allowed 



