Breeding 79 



There is no doubt that giving a seedling the 

 best of soil and good culture helps materially to 

 establish it the first year. If a promising seed- 

 ling is grown Kke a prize variety, the result is 

 100 per cent, better than if given the half-hearted 

 cultivation that most seedlings get. 



In my own experience, if a seedling is given 

 the best cultivation in its first year, the second 

 and third year will find it exactly like the first. 

 All that is left to do is to plant it in other soils 

 and climates to see how it will behave. Both 

 have their effect on stem as well as on colour, 

 and as weather may vary each season, never 

 condemn a seedling if it behaves badly during 

 its first summer in a new locality. A second 

 trial may show it in its true light. 



The dahlia as a species of herbaceous peren- 

 nial is undoubtedly in its early stages. It is 

 therefore unstable and can be moulded into 

 almost any shape or form as by a potter's wheel. 

 From the smallest Mignon or Tom Thumb 

 types to the massive hybrid cactus is but a few 

 steps. Therein lies the fascination which keeps 

 us striving for new and better ones each year. 



