Propagation 41 



During the hundred and fifty years of dahlia 

 culture since its first introduction, we have 

 learned the wisdom of digging and storing the 

 roots every autumn. But oh! next spring! 



How many times have I seen men and women 

 of real intelligence dig a large hole in the ground 

 and gently lay into it the whole clump just 

 as it had been taken up in the autumn! It is 

 so hard to dissuade these people from the wisdom 

 of their ways — ^they have grown dahlias for years 

 and years, and have always done it so ! 



What is the result of such planting? Practi- 

 cally every tuber formed last year sends up a 

 shoot which is destined to become a plant in 

 itself. From three to ten plants are thus com- 

 pelled to grow in the space which should have 

 held but one. The roots become crowded and 

 strangle one another. There is not enough 

 available plant food in so small a space to 

 nourish so many hungry children. Only a few 

 survive, and those have only strength enough 

 to reach out with leaves to gather nourishment 

 from the air; the efifect is a dense, compact 

 bush with but few if any blossoms on it. What 

 fliowers there are are small and poor, and the 

 double varieties, seeming to fear that their 

 species may become extinct, put out a few 

 single or semi-double blossoms, hoping that the 



