Soil Composition and Preparation 39 



When the last trench has been dug out, and 

 the bottom packed with the kitchen and garden 

 trash, we must resort to the wheelbarrow to 

 carry the contents of the first trench to it. Top- 

 soil goes in first, of course, and the subsoil follow- 

 ing, just as in the others. 



Bonemeal may be bought in 200 -Ib. bags 

 almost anywhere. The finest "bonedust" is 

 not necessary, and is generally wasteful. The 

 next coarser, the kind generally used in the 

 rose beds, is the best, and if it can be got fine 

 enough in the "green" or "raw" state, so 

 much the better. Placed in the soil in Novem- 

 ber, it decays during the winter and is ready 

 for immediate assimilation by the dahlia roots in 

 the spring. 



/The soil, if treated annually with bonemeal, 

 will grow dahlias continually. My own dahlias 

 have been grown in the same beds for fifteen 

 years, and are finer to-day than they ever were. 



