Cultivating 109 



for instance. A tall vase of six-inch blooms is 

 more beautiful than a great twelve-inch bloom, so 

 heavy that it cannot hold up its head. Is King of 

 the Autumn more beautiful when twice the size.? 



The evolution of the modern chrysanthemum 

 shows us what goes on in the minds of flower 

 lovers. A few years ago the 'mum shows were 

 filled with the gigantic blooms at which we 

 always marvelled, but which down deep in our 

 hearts we did not covet — and never loved. Now 

 the small-flowering varieties of branching habit 

 predominate. They are human and lovable and 

 appeal to everyone. 



So it will be with the dahlia. At present the 

 points in competition at the shows give a large 

 percentage to size, but it will not be long before 

 we in America appreciate that the dahlia as a 

 garden and a cut flower cannot be surpassed; 

 that extra size only tends toward coarseness 

 and insolence in a flower which is really the 

 aristocrat among all others, and where refine- 

 ment should predominate. 



Such disbudding as is here described should be 

 applied to the heavier types of cactus, hybrid 

 cactus, decorative, and some varieties of peony- 

 flowered dahlias. There are others, like the 

 pompon, most singles, and anemone-flowered, 

 the "star" types and some of the smaller cactus 



