176 The Amateur'' s Book of the Dahlia 



There is always one bone of contention which 

 comes up at every flower show. It is that 

 flexible line drawn between the amateur and the 

 professional. 



We amateurs are dreadfully afraid of the 

 professional when it comes to competition. They 

 loom up in our thoughts like a bugaboo. We 

 who dig in our own gardens dare not compete 

 with a man who has acres of dahlias and an army 

 of men to cultivate them. We argue that we 

 do not have a fair chance against such odds. 

 Yet if we went to some of the meetings of 

 florists' clubs, we would be surprised to hear 

 these very professionals argue that they cannot 

 compete with an amateur because they have 

 not the time to bring their blooms to such 

 perfection! They must take care of thousands 

 when the amateur may have only a dozen on 

 which they spend all their time, thought, and 

 money ! 



Then comes the everlasting question, "What 

 is an amateur?" The American Dahlia Society 

 has adopted the following rule: "An amateur 

 gardener is one who does all the work in the 

 garden except the plowing or spading, and who is 

 not engaged in gardening as a livelihood." Those 

 who employ men to do the work, and who ex- 

 pend their thought and their money upon the 



