Planting, Staking, and Fertilizing 93 



made into low compact bushes, need not be 

 planted more than eighteen inches apart. The 

 Pompons, in spite of pinching, are always taller 

 than the Mignons — and, planted two feet apart 

 behind the Mignons, make an excellent interme- 

 diary between them and the tall ones. 



Since the beds have already been prepared 

 with leaf mould and bonemeal, no fertilizer 

 should be added at planting time. If any 

 manure has been dug in to make a sandy soil 

 more compact, greatest care should be ex- 

 ercised not to allow any of it to come in contact 

 with a newly planted tuber or the roots of a 

 young plant. As the little fibres expand they 

 will reach the plant food soon enough. 



Some growers mulch their dahlias with strawy 

 manure just before they reach the blooming 

 period. The manure leaches downward with the 

 action of the rain or artificial watering, slowly 

 feeding the roots. The straw shelters the soil 

 and keeps it from drying out. This does fairly 

 well on a light sandy soil, but such mulch should 

 never be allowed close to the main stalk. The 

 wet straw "steams," and suddenly the whole 

 plant droops. Rot has started in the stalk, 

 and nothing can save it after the tissues have 

 been destroyed. 



I have found that regular cultivation is mulch 



