186 MA.SSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



year after year without division, not only will they form unwieldy 

 masses but there will be a multitude of feeble shoots whose flowers 

 will be few and poor. 



The soil should be such as is neither light nor heavy and a 

 plentiful suppl}' of manure should be used. Chemical fertilizers 

 will induce a low growth, not high enough to hide a child, while 

 barnyard manure will cause a tall growth. For m}- own part I 

 prefer tall plants and should use manure if I could get enough of 

 it, for though dahlias raised on it need staking to keep the wind 

 from breaking them, the flowers are much finer both in shape and 

 color and the foliage has a freshness and perfection which adds 

 much to the beauty of the plant. With chemical fertilizers there 

 are too many ill-shaped and ill-colored flowers and the foliage is 

 more apt to be infected with a fungous growth which causes it to 

 turn yellowish at the edges and to shrivel toward the end of the 

 season. The roots should be planted about the end of May and 

 should be covered about three inches deep and there should be at 

 least four feet of clear space allowed on each side ; otherwise full 

 development cannot be expected. I have seen them planted 

 singly on lawns, and so treated a tall, bushy and well-flowered 

 plant of a large blossomed variety makes a fine appearance. As 

 in the majority of plants, the after cultivation consists simplj' in 

 keeping the ground loose and clean and in supplying water occa- 

 sionally if the season be dr}', for the dahlia needs a good supply 

 of water. I remember a season in which from many hundred 

 plants I had but one flower, while a field of gladioli blossomed as 

 well as ever. The first frost will destroy the plants but it is by 

 no means necessarj- that they be then taken up. On the contrary 

 they will keep better in the ground than out of it until the end of 

 October ; all that is necessarj- is to lift them before the ground 

 freezes up. I have known a root accidentallj' left in the ground 

 over winter to come up in the spring and flourish as vigorously 

 as if it had been stored in the cellar through the winter. 



In taking up dahlia roots, it is necessary to observe two precau- 

 tions : not to shake them too violently in removing the earth, 

 otherwise the necks of many tubers will be so injured as to rot 

 awa}' during the winter ; and to invert the root for a while after 

 cutting off the stems so that the moisture which drains off shall 

 not run down upon the crown, there b}- causing the buds for next 

 year's growth to rot. Neglect of these precautions has been the 

 destruction of many a good collection. 



