DAHLIA. 1 i 1 



couraging to a young beginner, and in fact it certainly is 

 poor business, as plants already raised can be purchased 

 cheap, enabling a person to procure a good selection at a 

 moderate price. 



The principal reason the Dahlia has not succeeded better 

 in this country is, that persons having roots are anxious for 

 early flowers, and generally take the greatest pains to defeat 

 their object. Gardeners, to satisfy the public demand for 

 early flowers, have been compelled, at the sacrifice of their 

 judgment, to propagate for the sake of selling their plants. 

 It should be observed that the Dahlia is an autumn not a 

 spring flower, and should, therefore, never be planted in the 

 open ground before June. If the rule here laid down be 

 followed, there will not be that complaint which has here- 

 tofore existed. There is no general rule without some ex- 

 ception. It happens, sometimes, that early planting suc- 

 ceeds, but only in rainy seasons ; for, if planted early, and 

 we have a dry season, the plants will attain their growth in 

 July or early in August, and consequently be attacked by 

 the red spider. That insect lives and breeds on the under 

 side of the leaves, which, for want of a proper circulation of 

 sap, soon perish, thus defeating the desired object. In late 

 planting, your plants will not attain their growth before 

 the last of August, when the nights begin to get cool ; they 

 will then flower more profusely, amply compensating for 

 all the trouble bestowed on them. The best application for 

 destroying the red spider is whale oil soap, two pounds to 

 fifteen gallons of water, syimged under the leaves as soon 

 as they begin to turn yellow. 



