26 



THE OANA-DIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



Do not plant your dahlias in the 

 open ground until the summer has fairly- 

 set in, and all danger from frost is 

 passed, for it is very sensitive to frost. 

 "When the season has advanced and you 

 find that the weather is becoming hot 

 and dry, then mulch your dahlias by i 

 covei'ing the ground over the roots for * 

 the distance of two feet around the 

 plants with two or three inches of half- 

 rotted stable manure, and if you wish 

 to hide this from view, throw a slight 

 covering of surface-soil over it. This 

 will keep the moisture that is in the 

 soil from evaporating too rapidly, and 

 when there is rain, it will afford some 

 additional stimulant and nourishment 

 to the plant. Should the weather con- 

 tinue dry, your dahlia will well repay 

 you for your trouble if you will water 

 it every evening aft^r the sun is down, 

 pouring the water all over the plant 

 through the fine rose of a watering pot 

 that will hold a good pailful of water. 



After the season is over, and the 

 aiitumn frosts have blackened your 

 beautiful dahlias, then cut them off at 

 about four inches from the ground, take 

 up the tubers, let them dry for a couple 

 of hours, then pack them in a box of 

 dry soil and store them away in a per- 

 fectly frost-proof cellar until wanted for 

 another season. 



If it is desired to multiply the num- 

 ber of plants, this can ho done by split- 

 ing the stalk down, in the spring, just 

 before planting out, taking care that 

 there is a bud on each piece. These 

 buds will be found at or near the collar 

 of the old stalk that you will split up 



to increase your stock of plants. They 

 may be also increased by cuttings of 

 the young shoots. To do this advant- 

 ageously, cover the tubers of the old 

 plant lightly with soil, leaving the 

 collar exposed, and place it where it 

 may have light and heat sufficient to 

 induce growth. When the young shoots 

 have grown to the length of three or 

 four inches, cut them off so as to leave 

 a couple of buds on the part remaining 

 attached to the plant. Set each of these 

 cuttings in a thumb pot filled with pure 

 sand, place them on a gentle bottom 

 heat and shade them from the sun. In 

 a fortnight or three weeks they will 

 have emitted roots. They should be 

 then re-potted into three-inch pots, 

 filled with light, friable soil, and kept 

 well shaded from the sun until they be- 

 gin to grow. During all this time, 

 water cautiously, keeping the sand or 

 the soil moist but not wet. The buds 

 left on the portion of the shoot attached 

 to the old plant will grow into other 

 shoots in due time ; these may be cut 

 off in the same manner and rooted in 

 the same way, and the process repeated 

 as long as desired. 



When these rooted cuttings have be- 

 come well established, they will no 

 longer require shading from the sun, 

 but should be gradually inured to the 

 sun and air, or as the gai'deners term it, 

 " hardened off," so that when the sum- 

 mer has come and all danger of frost is 

 over, they may be planted in the open 

 ground in the manner already above 

 mentioned, and tranted during the 

 growing season in the same way as 



