Planting, Staking, and Fertilizing 91 



risk of being strained during a high wind. Heavy 

 plants should have the main trunk tied every 

 two feet or less, and every main branch should 

 be supported from the stake. The joints are 

 brittle and gales whip them off readily if they are 

 not tied. 



Soft string, such as is used for tomato vines, 

 etc., is most often used for dahlias, but each 

 year I find myself rummaging through the attic 

 in search of old curtains, old clothes, old anything 

 of cotton. These I tear into strips three quar- 

 ters of an inch wide (more or less, according to 

 the strength of the material), and with them 

 always tie my most valuable dahlias. Such strips 

 can never cut or chafe the stems, and will last 

 at least one season and sometimes two. 



Some of the more spreading varieties it may 

 be necessary to stake again. The ordinary com- 

 mercial stakes will do well enough for this pur- 

 pose, for they have little weight to bear. They 

 may be set two feet away from the main stalk 

 and the branches fastened at the angle desired 

 for them to grow. 



Such staking and tying sound laborious. The 

 commercial grower will tell you to pinch out the 

 centre of the stalk, forcing the plant to form 

 many branches near the ground, thus overcom- 

 ing the necessity of any stake at all. This method 



