DAHLIA — DAPHNE. 223 



Single varieties, and sometimes the doubles, are grown 

 from seeds. 



Dahlia tubers may be started into growth in heat late 

 in winter, and the young sprouts may be removed and 

 handled as ordinary cuttings as fast as they form, the 

 same as sweet potatoes are handled. These cuttings 

 should be removed close to the tuber or else at the first 

 joint (preferably the former) and handled into small pots, 

 where they will soon form tubers. These culting-plants, 

 if 6 to ID inches high when set in the open, make excel- 

 lent bloom that season, although generally giving dwarfer 

 plants than those grown from tubers planted directly in 

 the ground. Rare sorts may be increased during summer 

 by cuttings from the growing tips. Cions made of the 

 growing tips may be grafted mto the roots by a cleft- or 

 side-graft (see page 129). This method is oftenest em- 

 ployed for the purpose of preserving overwinter rare sorts 

 which it is feared may be lost. The grafts are kept grow- 

 ing slowly during winter, and cuttings may be taken from 

 them. Sometimes cions are taken from forced plants in 

 late winter or early spring and set in strong tubers for out- 

 door planting. Cuttings should always have a bud or 

 buds at the base, and in propagation by division, there 

 must be a piece of the crown attached to the root. 



Daisy. See Bellis and Chrysanthemum. 



Dalbergia. Leguminoses. 



Place cuttings of firm young shQots in sand under a 

 glass, in spring. Give a little bottom heat. 



Dandelion ( Taraxicum, officinale'). Composites. 



Seeds, in early spring, when grown for " greens." 



Daphne. Thymelcsacea. 



Seeds. For layers, remove the soil in spring to a 

 depth of 2 or 3 inches about the plant, and fill with fine 

 compost to within two inches of the tops of the shoots. 

 The next spring, carefully wash away the compost, and 

 plant the small white buds in pots of fine soil. Place in 

 a cool frame. 



Cuttings should be made of matured shoots or side 

 growths in autumn ; insert thinly in well-drained pots of 

 peaty soil, and cover with a bell-glass. If kept in a cool 

 house in winter they will callus, and, early in spring, may 

 be introduced to gentle heat, to encourage growth and 



