CHAPTER XIV 



VARIETIES IN ALIEN SOIL AND CLIMATE 



THE dahlia is a paradox. There is no flower 

 which can be more accommodating to soil 

 and climate; yet there is none so temperamental 

 when it is pleased or displeased with its food and 

 surroundings. 



A variety may change its colour like a chame- 

 leon. Some behave like veritable Doctor Jekylls 

 and Mr. Hydes, changing form and habit to suit 

 their own tastes. Sometimes a variety grown 

 in England would not recognize its twin sister 

 grown in some parts of the United States. A 

 variety bred in California may hardly be recog- 

 nizable grown in Colorado. It all depends on 

 soil and climate. 



There is no state in the Union that does not 

 boast of a dahlia garden somewhere within its 

 boundary. From northern Florida to south- 

 ern Alaska they grow in profusion. Tiny cot- 

 tages on the hillsides of Porto Rico and our new- 

 est acquisition, the Virgin Islands, are ablaze in 

 late summer with them. On the mountain 



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