ORNAMENTAL BULBS AND TUBERS, 509 



their Dahlia-roots in a hotbed, " to s»art the eyes," as they call it ; that is, to force 

 the latent buds sufliclently forward to show where they are situated, before they 

 divide the tubers for the purpose of forming new plants. Sometimes the eyes 

 do not form a ring round the collar or crown of the root, but a considerable 

 portion of it is without any buds. These parts, when divided from the rest, 

 are called blind tubers; and, though, if put into the ground, they will live for 

 several years, sending out abundance of fibrous roots every year, no gardener 

 has yet been able to induce a blind tuber to form an eye, or to send up a shoot. 

 Dahlias are also propagated by cuttings of the stem, taken from the lower 

 part of the plant ; or young shoots slipped off the tuber, with part of the woody 

 fibre attached. The cuttings should be struck in sand, or very sandy loam, 

 imder a bell-ghiss, and with bottom-heat. Great care should be taken to shade 

 them from the direct rays of the sun, till they have thrown out roots; as the 

 leaves are easily withered, and when this is the case they cannot be recovered, 

 and the cutting will perish for want of a due circulation of the sap. The roots 

 will generally form in a fortnight, or, at most, three weeks. The best soil for 

 Dahlias is a compost of equal parts of sand and loam, with a little peat ; which 

 may be enriched with part of an old hotbed, or decayed leaves. Manure of 

 any kind should, however, be used very sparingly ; as too much will cause 

 the plant to produce strong, coarse-growing leaves and stems, instead of fine 

 flowers. Striped flowers are never either bright or distinct in their colours in 

 very rich soil. Dahlias will not gi-ow well in the richest clayey soil without 

 sand ; and though they will grow freely in sand without loam, the flowers will 

 be poor and only semi- double. Though they flower so late in the year, Dah- 

 lias are killed by the slightest frost ; and thus their beauty, great as it is, is 

 generally rather short-lived. As soon as the leaves turn brown from frost, 

 which is generally in October, the stems should be cut down ; and in November 

 the tubers should be taken up. A dry day should be chosen, if possible ; and 

 the tubers should be carefully taken up, and laid on boards in an open shed, 

 or some similar place, to dry. While di-ying they should be turned every 

 day, and the earth that falls from them should be swept away. They should 

 be dried in an open shed, if possible, where they will be only sheltered from 

 the rain ; for if dried suddenly by firs-heat, or exposure to the sun, the tubers 

 are apt to wither up ; and if dried too slowly, without the admission of plenty 

 of air, they will rot. They generally do best kept during the winter in a dry 

 cellar, in sand or sawdust ; but any dry place will do, which is not too hot. In 

 spring, the tubers are replanted, either in pots plunged in a slight hotbed, 

 about the middle of February, or the beginning of March, or in the open 

 ground in May or June; but the dwarf early- flowering kinds may be planted 

 in the open air in April. When the tall kinds are wanted to flower early, they 

 may be forced rapidly forward by being plunged into stronger heat, and kept 

 in the hotbed till just ready to flower. If, however, the summer should prove 

 hot and dry, the plants thus forced are frequently attacked by a disease called 

 the curl, which is caused by an insect known by the name of the green bug, 

 that perforates the young leaves, and occasions them to wither and shrivel up. 



569. The operations of gardening will be found in various parts of the twin 

 volume, The Horticulturist. 



