October 12, 1S76. J 



JOURNAL Off HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



319 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



Day 1 Day 

 ol of 



OCTOBER 12—13, 1S76. 



Average 

 Temperature near 



Sun 



Sun 



Moon 



Moon 



Moon's 



Clock 

 before 



Day 

 ol 



Month. Week. 





London. 













Sun. 



Year. 









Day. 



Night. 



Mean. 



h. m. 



h. m. 



h. m. 



h. m. 



Days. 



m. s. 





12 



Th 



Hull Show closes. 



59.2 



41.4 



50.3 



6 21 



5 12 



morn. 



3 35 



25 



13 37 



286 



13 



F 



Twilight ends 7.1 P.M. 



60.7 



41.8 



51.2 



6 22 



5 10 



1 3 



3 50 



26 



IS 51 



2S7 



14 



S 



Fire Insurance must be paid. 



59.9 



40.5 



50.2 



6 24 



5 8 



2 29 



4 3 



27 



14 5 



288 



15 



Son 



18 Sunday after Trinity. 



59.0 



40.5 



50.6 



6 26 



5 6 



3 53 



4 13 



28 



14 18 



2-9 



16 



M 



Valisnerius died, 1730. 



59.0 



40.1 



50.5 



6 27 



5 4 



5 14 



4 26 



29 



14 30 



290 



17 



To 





58.8 



40.7 



49.1 



6 29 



5 2 



6 36 



4 39 



o 



14 42 



291 



18 



W 





60.4 



40.7 



40.9 



6 SI 



5 



7 55 



4 54 



1 



14 53 



292 



From observations taken near London during forty-three years 



the average day temperature 



of the week is 59.6 3 ; and its night temperature 



49.1". 













THE DAHLIA. 



HIS noble autumn flower is not so mucli 

 grown now as it was ten or fifteen years 

 ago. In many large and pretentious gar- 

 dens no Dahlias are grown, or, if they do 

 find a place, it is not an honourable one ; 

 they are huddled away into some corner, or 

 they fill up a gap in a shrubbery border. 

 The Dahlia cannot be said to be a fashion- 

 able flower. It is not adapted for carpet 

 bedding or the geometrical flower garden, 

 although some of the dwarf flowering sorts sometimes do 

 good service as a back row to the ribbon borders. It is 

 not in the south of England that the Dahlia is seen to 

 the beat advantage in private gardens. In the north of 

 England and many districts in the south of Scotland a 

 favourable portion of the kitchen garden is not unfre- 

 quently devoted to its special culture, or a border may 

 be specially prepared in the flower garden, where the 

 Dahlia is made to" do duty as a background flower. In 

 either case careful culture is insisted upon. The flowers 

 are thinned out according to their character, those varie- 

 ties tending to coarseness bearing the largest number of 

 flowers, while small and medium- sized sorts may be 

 thinned-out to any extent. During the month of Septem- 

 ber the Dahlia is in its prime in the south, and the best 

 flowers are exhibited about the third week in the month. 

 It is necessary to hold the exhibitions in some parts of 

 Scotland earlier than this, as the flowers are not unfre- 

 quently cut off by frost before that time. I have been 

 urged to write these and the following remarks on the 

 Dahlia from the fact that many persons grow the flower 

 who require the aid of a few cultural notes. 



By the time this appears in print the Dahlia season 

 will be nearly over ; the first frosty night makes sad 

 havoc amongst the plants. Some growers cut the plants 

 down and dig them up at once, but this is not desirable : 

 a better plan is to place a spadeful of soil or any dry 

 material round the base of the plants, and allow them to 

 remain a week or two longer. When it iB time to take 

 the roots up the plants should be cut off about 6 inches 

 above the ground, the roots should be carefully lifted with 

 a fork, placing them in a sunny position with the stems 

 downwards. This will dry them and allow all the water 

 to drain out of the hollow stems ; a large quantity some- 

 times finds its way in at the axils of the branches, and 

 lodges in the stem at the crown of the plants. The labels 

 should be firmly fastened to the stems, and the tuberous 

 roots be placed in a Bhed where no frost can gain access. 

 The roots may be placed closely together, and be covered 

 over with dryish sand or leaf soil. They ought not to be 

 kept quite dry, and, on the other hand, damp is almost 

 equally injurious. It is important to have the roots well 

 dried before storing them. 



If it is intended to propagate a large number of plants, 



the roots may be placed in the forcing house about the 



end of January or early in February ; but, as a rule, the 



middle or end of March is sufficiently early. I generally 



No. 811.— Vol. XXXI., New Series, 



plant the roots closely together in a box in some light 

 soil, just covering the tubers. If the boxes can be placed 

 in gentle bottom heat so much the better. The night 

 temperature should be from 50° to 55°. I am not writing 

 now for the information of trade growers, who would not 

 be content with such low temperatures. They start their 

 plants early and force rapidly, the object being to pro- 

 pagate the largest number of plants in a given time ; 

 whereas the private grower looks to the quality more 

 than the quantity of his plants. In a week or two after 

 putting the roots into heat the young shoots will appear, 

 and when they are an inch or so in length they may be 

 taken off close to the main 6tern, and the cuttings should 

 be potted singly in small 60's or thumb-pots in soil com- 

 posed of equal parts of leaf soil and loam, with a little sand 

 added to it. The pots should be plunged in bottom heat 

 either in a frame or propagating house. The cuttings will 

 soon strike root, and when this is the case they ought to 

 be removed to the greenhouse or heated pit. The young 

 plants ought to be placed near the glass, as otherwise 

 they are apt to become drawn. In a few days they may 

 be repotted into 4 or 5-inch pots, and when fairly esta- 

 blished be placed in a cold frame, where in mild weather 

 the lights may be entirely removed, but covering the 

 plants up closely when there is danger of frost. In the 

 north it is not safe to plant out until the very last week in 

 May, and sometimes beginning of June, but if planting is 

 deferred so late as this the plants ought to be again potted 

 into 6 or 7-inch pots. If they become rootbound it i3 cer- 

 tain that they cannot start into vigorous growth. 



Of course the soil ought to be prepared long before 

 planting-out time. The ground should be trenched at 

 once, and this is an important preliminary operation. 

 Unless the ground is rich and deeply trenched good 

 Dahlias cannot be expected. A good manure is that from 

 the cows and the stable-yard thrown into a heap and 

 Blightly heated. The comparatively dry hot dung absorbs 

 the moisture of the cool cow manure, and the object in using 

 it when in a state of fermentation is that the ammonia 

 is absorbed by the earth instead of being wasted. I have 

 often described the method of trenching ground and wish 

 to avoid repetition. A good dressing of manure ought 

 to be applied, and a thickish layer of turfy loam ought to 

 be placed over the upper coat of dung about 6 inches 

 below the surface ; this is the more necessary when the 

 same ground is required to grow DahlisiS many years in 

 succession. During winter it is very desirable to fork 

 the surface of the ground over frequently in fine weather ; 

 after rains the surface becomes caked and impervious to 

 air, but on no account ought the soil to be touched in wet 

 weather. 



We now come to the end of May or beginning of June. 

 The ground has been well prepared, and also the plants 

 by exposure night and day to the open air ; and before 

 planting they ought to have been in a position sheltered, 

 it may be, from the north and east, but where the sun 

 could shine upon them during the greater part of the day. 

 The heights of Dahlias range from 3 feet to 5 or even 

 6 feet, and this muBt be taken into account at planting 



No. 1463.— Vol. LVI., Old Series. 



