Soil Composition and Preparation 35 



in the making of soil, muck or sour peat is in- 

 corporated freshly the first year. At such a 

 time a very little lime might be beneficial. My 

 own beds, in all the fifteen years that dahlias 

 have grown there, never have had an application 

 of lime. 



The small percentage of lime in bonemeal 

 and the chemical reaction of nitrate fertilizers 

 which dahlias usually receive at the end of 

 summer, is sufficiently sweetening for all their 

 purposes. 



Our lovable friend, the veteran of gardeners, 

 Dean Hole, once made a remark which another 

 lovable friend in Oregon since brought up to 

 date, saying: "It is better to plant a ten-cent 

 root in a hole which cost a dollar to make, than to 

 plant a root costing a dollar in a hole which cost 

 ten cents to make." 



The hole for the dahlia will cost a dollar the 

 first time if properly made, but it is there to stay. 



Choose the location so that the beds may be 

 prepared in the autumn. There are many reasons 

 for this. 



We have more time after the summer's work is 

 over, therefore the work will be more thoroughly 

 and intelligently done. 



We can more easily procure the ingredients for 



