Planting, Staking, and Fertilizing 89 



Sometimes tubers have been left lying about 

 for a week or two after dividing, for lack of time 

 to put them in the ground. If they were not 

 protected from the air they will have shrivelled; 

 and the eye, no matter how healthy, will have 

 great difficulty in making growth. Sometimes 

 they will grow a few inches and then stop. 

 Tubers from plants which had grown rapidly 

 the year before are especially liable to shrivel 

 under such circumstances. If there is any 

 question as to their appearance soak them in a 

 pail of cold water for from twenty-four to forty- 

 eight hours. They will not necessarily swell, 

 but the water will get in between the fibres of 

 the tubers, and a fine plant will be the result. 



Do not press the soil down upon a tuber. If 

 it is dry pour a little water in to tuck it around 

 the tuber just enough. The warmth of the sun 

 penetrates the shallow covering and starts the 

 tuber into growth. The loose and friable soil 

 allows the young roots to work their way through 

 without great effort, and new tubers form almost 

 at once. As the shoot grows upward more soil 

 may be filled in until the ground is level. Never 

 hill a dahlia plant. If planted seven or eight 

 inches deep the roots keep cool and moist during 

 the summer. Hilling acts as a shed for the 

 water and does more harm than good. 



