114 A GUIDE TO FLORICULTURE. 



TAKING UP ROOTS. 



In taking up your roots in the fall, it is frequently done 

 too hastily ; you will find it of advantage, just before you 

 expect a frost, to take a spade and cut the ends of the 

 tubers. This will not affect the flowers or the plant, but 

 will have a tendency to ripen the tubers sooner. When 

 the foliage is black with the frost, cut them down to within 

 three inches of the ground, and lay the haulm over the 

 roots as a protection from the frost. In eight or ten days 

 your plants may be taken up ; but be careful and label as 

 you take them up, to enable you to know one plant from 

 another at any time. Place the roots in a room for about 

 two weeks, to dry ; then pack them in a barrel with some 

 hay, and then in a cellar or room out of the reach of frost. 



In the month of January, if the weather is mild, it will 

 be necessary to examine the roots, and, if mouldy and 

 likely to rot, they should be dried in the sun, and then re- 

 packed. In the coldest parts of Europe it is a common 

 practice to bury them in the ground like potatoes, a plan 

 I would recommend to persons living in the country, who 

 have no cellars. 



