144 The Amateur's Book of the Dahlia 



decay. Cut out any such spots and dust either 

 with powdered sulphur or slaked lime, or apply 

 a solution of bichloride 1 part to 1,000 parts 

 of water. Any druggist can prepare this solu- 

 tion, and as it is an excellent cure for rot in iris 

 as well, it is a good thing to have on hand in the 

 tool shed. (Be sure to mark your bottle " Poison." 

 In these Prohibition days anything in a bottle 

 may be interesting to a stranger!) Then soak 

 the root in a pail of water for two days and re- 

 plant in a sandy soil enriched with peat or leaf 

 mould. Keep the ground moist for a week and 

 the shoot will start up like magic. 



Sometimes this trouble may be caused by the 

 bud or eye being wedged so tightly either be- 

 tween two tubers or between the tuber and the 

 old stalk that it cannot start new roots from 

 the base of the shoot as it grows. It lives as 

 long as it can on the old tuber, which some- 

 times even prolongs its life by enlarging its size. 

 New tubers cannot form, and if the plant sur- 

 vives, when dug at the end of the season only 

 the original tuber may be found. Always have 

 this in mind when planting a tuber, cutting 

 away any bit of stalk or superfluous tuber 

 which might interfere with the formation of new 

 ones. 



There is a beast which troubles not the dahlia, 



