Any strong twine can be used to J:ie them to the 

 stakes. Strips of new muslin an inch wide are good 

 to use, as they are strong and being soft, do not cut 

 into the plant. 



The ground should be full of moisture when the 

 planting is done, which should be sufficient until 

 the dahlias are growing nicely. 



In sections where they have the winter freezes, 

 planting is done as soon as the soil has warmed up 

 in the Spring-time, which is usually in May. In 

 frostless sections, planting can be done from Febru- 

 ary to July, the extreme early planting being condi- 

 tional upon the soil being of a sandy nature with 

 good drainage. But heavy soil with poor drainage, 

 will rot the tubers if there are heavy rains. 



Where the planting is done in a dry climate after 

 the rains are over, the air contains but little mois- 

 ture and the ground quickly dries out. When this con- 

 dition prevails, there is little or no danger of their 

 decaying from too much moisture, in fact the ground 

 has to be kept quite moist or they will stand still 

 and make no growth at all. It is not unusual to 

 have a dahlia make a few inches growth and stop. 

 This is either due to the tuber being in a state of 

 decay or not receiving sufficient moisture to cause 

 it to put out any root growth. If the tuber is de- 

 caying and is not too far gone, cut off the decayed 

 portion, keep the tuber out of the ground a day or 

 so to let the cut end dry off a little and sear over, 

 which will lessen the liability of its continuing to 

 decay. 



If the tuber is sound, cut off what growth it 

 has made to within ^ inch of the tuber, soak in 



