CULTURE OF FLORIST FLOWERS. 73 



that the flowers show to a good advantage. The most general 

 mode of training, is to place a strong stake of red cedar, four 

 or five feet in length, near the plant, and train one shoot to it 

 by tieing it with bass matting, or other string, as it progresses 

 in growth. In doing this, the string must not be tied too 

 tightly round the stalk, which often wounds, and sometimes 

 cuts it asunder, when it is exposed to the violence of the 

 wind. To this may be added, that of training against a flat 

 trellis, fences, &c., which are all to the same purpose. 



Fall management. The principal course to be pursued 

 in the fall management of the Dahlia, is in keeping the ground 

 clean, pruning and tieing up the branches, and thinning out 

 those which are superabundant ones. So soon as the frost is 

 expected, three or four inches of earth should be put around 

 the roots of the plants, to protect them from being frozen, as 

 is often the case at the early part of the season, when ne- 

 glected. Many persons take up the roots of Dahlias previous 

 to the early frosts, which is evidently an error, because the 

 roots being taken from the ground in a state of luxuriant 

 growth, and when they are not matured by the return of sap, 

 consequently shrivel up, owing to their being too green ; but 

 when left in the ground after the stalk is cut down by the 

 frost, the small fibres extract nutriment from the ground, and 

 feed and plump the tubers into a mature state. 



Taking up the roots. When there is apprehension of 

 severe frost, the roots may be taken from the ground and 

 dried in the sun, when they are to be taken into winter 

 quarters. 



There are many methods of preserving the roots of 

 Dahlias through the winter ; the one most generally adopted 

 is the drying the roots when taken from the ground, and 

 placing them under the stage of a green-house. In this situ- 

 ation, they are looked over at different times in the winter, 

 and divested of any decaying parts, as the rot of the stalks, or 

 any part of the tubers that are beginning to decay, should be 

 immediately cut off with a sharp knife, and the wounds dried, 



7 G 



