THE FLOWEE-GAEDEN. 95 



In the autumn, put a strong plant, twelve inches in height, which had 

 grown in the open ground, into a pot; take away all the stems except 

 one, which you are to tie with rushes or bass-mat, all along its length, 

 to a firm stake ; head down the stem to within six inches of the surface 

 of the earth in the pot. Several new shoots will push forth, and from 

 these you are to choose five or six, to he left as nearly as possible at 

 equal distances from each other, to form a base for the head. 



These shoots will soon lengthen and flower ; they should not, how- 

 ever, be allowed to ripen their seeds ; therefore they are to be trimmed 

 so as to leave but a single shoot to each tuft to replace those that are 

 removed, which in its turn is to undergo similar treatment. Thus, by 

 continually arresting the tendency to produce seed, and to produce 

 useless and weakening stems, the principal one, and also the base of the 

 flowering stalks, which are continually renewing themselves, are rendered 

 woody. 



In Belgium and Holland, where this mode of treating mignonette is 

 common, large shrubs of it may be seen blooming ten or twelve years, 

 and constantly during summer flowering in the balconies of the houses, 

 and in winter in the apartments within. 



Violets, too, receive similar treatment, and with equally good results. 



THE DAHLIA. — This superb flower, which is so hardy and easily cul- 

 tivated by any one who has a few yards of garden, deserves a special 

 notice, and not only because it is one of the greatest ornaments in the 

 garden during the autumn, but from the fact that most persons who 

 see and admire it neither know from what part of the world it has been 

 brought into our country, nor by whom, nor when. 



M. Ysabeau, from whom I have derived most-of this information, in- 

 forms us that the Dahlia was discovered in 1800, by the distinguished 

 Russian traveler and philosopher. Baron de Humboldt, who found it in 

 its wild state in the high mountain valleys of Mexico. 



The beautiful varieties we possess are proofs of what the art of man 

 is permitted to accomplish in improving the qualities of the wild plants 

 which the Creator has strewn in our paths. In its native state, it is a 

 lowly plant, producing a very simple, unshowy flower. 



The discoverer imagined that the tubers which he sent to Europe 

 would prove, like those of the potato, good food for man and beast. 

 Yet, had he tasted them, he must have found them to be exceedingly 

 bitter and nauseous, besides being medicinally violent in effect. 



The name, which ought properly to be that of Humboldt, became 

 that of Dahlia, in compliment to the Swedish botanist, Dahl. 



For some time the Dahlia, condemned as a worthless esculent, was 

 unknown as an ornamental flower, but when its beauties became de- 

 veloped by the gardener's skill in crossing the seeds, and every year it 

 expanded into finer varieties, it became a prized flower. Shadings of 

 color, from white to the deepest purple, have been obtained in surpris- 

 ing extent, and the form of the flower has been rendered perfect. One 

 color, however, is still wanted : a perfect blue Dahlia has not, I believe, 

 yet appeared. 



The Dahlia is propagated by the tubers, with a small piece of the 

 stem adhering to each ; and to have them growing freely in the open 



