i io The Dahlia 



one or two nurserymen had maintained the successful 

 cultivation of the plant. But elsewhere it was the rule 

 that in the full season of the Dahlia, that is to say, in 

 the early fall, the plants, which had up to that time 

 been full of promise, became suddenly sickly. They 

 stopped making free growth, producing only stunted, 

 twisted shoots ; the leaves fell victim to a mildew which 

 seriously disfigured the plants ; and, moreover, the 

 flower buds which were present refused to expand, and, 

 becoming black, finally shrivelled up and fell. It is 

 abundantly demonstrated now, however, that the secret 

 of successful Dahlia culture lies in not allowing the 

 plant to make too much growth before the proper 

 season. With the hot dry spell of weather which 

 usually strikes about the months of July and August, 

 plants which have been in full growth for some time 

 before, and are already in the flowering stage, suffer so 

 severely that they succumb to the conditions, and are 

 not able to recoup their strength in the early fall 

 sufficiently soon to. enable them to again flower before 

 the frost arrives and the tops are cut down. The end 

 in view is attained by late planting. In a word, the 

 successful cultivation of the Dahlia in this country 

 I am speaking of course for the Eastern States rests 

 absolutely upon keeping the roots out of the ground 

 just as long as it is possible to do so. The temptation 

 to plant early, that is, as soon as danger of frost is 

 gone in the spring, is a strong one, but the wise ones 

 will hold off until even July is fairly in. The case is 

 well presented by Mr. Withers himself in a com- 

 munication to American Gardening of llth May 

 1901. The reason that amateurs have had little 

 success, while those of the trade obtained gratifying 



