May 17, lOQO. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



J 857 



Give each plant ample room and have 

 about two inches of ashes on the bench 

 for the plants to stand on. The ashes 

 are useful in holding moisture and will 

 help to keep the roots cool. Years ago 

 we used to grow the 6-inch pot stock 

 outside, plunged in ashes/ but we have 

 either progressed in inside culture or 

 conditions outside have changed, for 

 plants grown outside now cannot hold a 

 candle to the indoor stock. The only 

 condition to look out for is to have 

 ample air around the plants, so that 

 they do not pull up on hot days. 



I give below a good selection of varie- 

 ties for 6-inch pot work, a selection 

 based largely on the winning lots at the 

 eastern shows last year: 



White: Merza, Nellie Pockett, May 

 Seddon, Beatrice May. 



Yellow: Cheltoni, Mrs. W. Duckham, 

 Appleton, Merstham Yellow. 



Pink: W. Duckham, Valerie Green- 

 ham, F. A. Cobbold, Mrs. Coombes. 



Red: Merstham Bed, J. H. Doyle, 

 Mrs. J. A. Miller. 



Maroon : T. Carrington, E. J. 

 Brooks. 



Lavender: Lady Hopetoun. 



The last named is the finest variety 

 for this work I ever saw, some last year 

 being only a foot high and producing 

 an enormous flower. 



Charles H. Totty. 



QNERARIAS. 



J. H. Myers, Altoona, Pa., finds Cin- 

 eraria atellata a very useful plant, par- 

 ticularly for Easter decorating. The 

 accompanying illustration shows a house 

 running along the end of Mr. Myers' 

 range in which he grows the cineraria 

 successfully. The plants photographed 

 were grown in 6-inch pans and were 

 from eighteen inches to four feet in 

 height, the spread of bloom being as 

 great as three feet on some of the speci- 

 mens. It was an especially interesting 

 lot because of the variety of colors, 

 ranging from nearly white to dark blue, 

 purple and crimson. 



THE DAHLIA* 



[A paper by E. H. Cushman, Sylvnnin, O., 

 read before the Ohio State Horticultural Society, 

 January 12, 1906.] 



The recent revival of the interest in 

 the dahlia for cut flower purposes and its 

 adaptability as a flowering plant for 

 amateurs, makes information regarding 

 its culture and management at this time 

 desirable. 



Its increasing popularity is largely 

 thrttugh the advent of new forms and 

 the ever increasing love and demand for 

 flowers. The dahlia comes at a season 

 when the rush of earlier summer flowers 

 is past and prior to the advent of the 

 chrysanthemum and glass grown flowers. 



It is not at all particular as to kind 

 of soil, requires no glass treatment, cov- 

 ers a wide range of colors and forms, 

 standard varieties are cheap and are 

 easily kept through the dormant season. 

 It well repays that loving care and at- 

 tention that many amateurs so delight 

 to bestow upon their plants. 



Its culture and development have 

 nearly all taken place within the last 

 hundred years — a very short time as com- 

 pared with the period covered by the 

 rose and chrysanthemum. It was taken 

 in its wild form from the sandy plains 

 of Mexico to Europe about 1789, but it 

 was not until 1814 that the first double 

 forms were seen at Loiivain, Ilolland. 

 From this time on development was 

 rapid ; from the single wild form, <louble 



Cinerarias Grown by J. H. Myers, Altoona, Pa. 



varieties appeared so rapidly that one 

 English dealer in 1841 listed over 1,200 

 varieties. Both the large flowering and 

 pompon class were of the globular form, 

 being as round as a ball. They are 

 classed as show and fancy. The show 

 class is made up of the self colors, that 

 IS, one color; the fancy class includes the 

 variegated flowers. 



These globular forms and singles filled 

 the lists until about the year iS73. .At 

 this time a Dutch merchant offered a 

 new form of dahlia, the parent of the 

 now popular class called cactus. This 

 variety was named Juarezii in honor of 

 the President of Mexico. This first new 

 form, with its long twisted petals, had 

 the peculiar red shade associated with 

 the cactus; hence the name of this class. 

 From it we ajce getting many variations; 

 indeed, another class is announced — the 

 pspony-flowercd. The aavent of the cac- 

 tus form with its informal grace and 

 beauty makes it valuable for all deco- 

 rative purposes. The dahlia has an 

 adaptability for graceful decorating not 

 possessed by the chrysanthemum and in 

 brilliancy of coloring it transcends all 

 other summer flowers. With the im- 

 provement in keeping qualities and a 

 more general knowledge of its useful- 

 ness as a cut flower, both by the florists 

 and the public, the dahlia is bound to 

 become very popular. 



Methods of Propagation. 



There are three methods of ])ropaga- 

 tion — by seed, root division and by cut- 

 tings. Dahlia seeds germinate very 

 quickly in moderate heat and the young 

 plants are easily handled. Sown in 

 March, pricked out into flats and trans- 

 planted into the open ground after dan- 

 ger of frost, thev are almost certain to 

 produce bloom in September in great 

 and endless variety. 



Perhaps the most common method of 

 propagation is by root division. In April 



the eyes will begin to show at the base 

 of the old stalk. These may be divided 

 with a knife, I find pruning shears most 

 useful, leaving one or two eyes with each 

 tuber. In this way varieties can be 

 largely multiplied. Where glass is avail- 

 able the clumps of roots may he bedded 

 in earth in full light about the last of 

 February; they soon spring into growth. 

 These young shoots can be taken oS, 

 rooted in sand and handled like any 

 other soft-wooded 'plants. The claim is 

 made that plants grown from cuttings 

 produce the best flowers. As far as my 

 observation goes I can see no su])eriority 

 over plants from root division. 



The dahlia does well in any fertile 

 soil, but its preference seems to be for 

 a rich, deep, juoist, sandy loam. It 

 snould be planted about the middle to the 

 last of May. It requires warmth to 

 start it into growth ; consequently there 

 is nothing to be gained by early plant- 

 ing. I think it is even a mistake to start 

 the tubers indoors as many amateurs do. 

 Midsummer is not a desirable time to 

 bloom the dahlia. About September 1 

 is quite early enough to bring in the first 

 blooms and this can be done easily by 

 planting out the last of May. To attain 

 the best results the plant shoidd receive 

 no (Mieck from start to finish. 



Planting. 



The dahlia should be planted so as to 

 permit of easy passage between the 

 jdants, as the bushes are very brittle and 

 a touch often will cause great branches 

 to break down. A single row will per- 

 mit of as close planting as two feet in 

 the row, but rows should be at least five 

 or six feet apart. Planting deptii should 

 be about five inches below the soil sur- 

 face. Frequent and shallow cultivation 

 is essential to its rapid growth. Grad- 

 ually drawing a little soil around the 

 base of the plant tends to assist in hold- 

 ing the plant upright. When tubers are 



I 



