58 The Amateur's Book of the Dahlia 



overcome this diflSculty by merely starting a 

 couple of months earlier, making the cuttings 

 direct from the clumps, as in the case of the green 

 plants used in the garden. 



Remove the clumps from the sand about 

 February first and place in the warm dark cellar. 

 Sprinkle or syringe daily, keeping them damp 

 for about a month, until the eyes have developed. 

 About March first place in a half -spent hotbed, 

 the soil over the manure being mixed with an 

 equal amount of sand. Too rich soil will induce 

 rot in the tubers, yet to produce strong plants 

 they must have food. About April first the 

 clumps will have sent up their shoots. 



Make the cuttings, root, and pot as I have 

 described for plants, but as soon as danger of 

 frost is past, they may be plunged, pot and all, 

 close together in the open ground. Growing 

 slowly is important, and by the time frost has 

 nipped them the pots contain the fat tubers 

 wanted. 



One or two eyes always develop on these roots, 

 and, planted directly in the garden like any 

 other tuber, they give perfect satisfaction. 



Never propagate green plants from a clump 

 which was originally a green plant the year be- 

 fore. 



Never propagate pot roots from plants in the 



