Wintering the Tender Flower Roots b y e 



V. WILSON 



1. Dig up the Dahlias and put them on one side for an 

 hour or two to dry off 



Dahlia Tubers 



PHIS is for amateurs and is the result of 

 our experience for the past five years 

 during which we have grown more than five 

 hundred plants of some two hundred varieties 

 each year. Tubers have been kept in boxes 

 packed in dry sand, in boxes packed in ground 

 cork, in piles covered with papers, in piles on a 

 platform raised three inches from the cellar 

 floor with papers under and over the pile and 

 sand thrown over the papers, and in boxes 

 lined and covered with papers but with no 

 packing material. 



The successful keeping of the tubers begins 

 with the digging. This should be done on the 

 first fair day after three days from the killing 

 frost and should not be delayed more than a 

 week, especially if the weather is warm. This 

 gives time for whatever strength may recede 

 from the stalk and not enough time for the 

 tubers to sprout. 



A notebook should be kept in which are 

 minueted the peculiarities of each variety. If 

 the tubers set compactly with strong necks 

 like Doazon, John Wanamaker, J. H. Jack- 

 son, they may be dug .with a spading fork 

 set well underneath and then lifted up. If the 

 tubers are heavy, with small necks and long 

 feeding roots from ends of tuber, like Yvonne 

 Cayeux, Iris, Century, Philadelphia, the earth 

 should be carefully removed, the tubers un- 

 covered, and the feeding roots cut off, and it 

 will often be better to divide the clump before 

 it is lifted out. A few light blows on the end 

 of the stalk, which should be cut close to the 

 ground before the digging, will make the earth 

 drop from the tubers. Then allow them to dry 

 until the moisture is out of the earth that will 

 still cling, but take care that the tuber does not 

 shrivel and that the skin does not wrinkle. 



Very soon after being dug, cut off the stalk 

 within an inch or two of the crown and trim 

 off the feeding roots and all tubers with broken 

 necks. This will hasten the drying, leave the 

 dirt in the garden and, besides, the tubers will 

 pack closer and keep better. 



The best thing in which to pack them is 

 boxes at least a foot deep, fifteen to twenty 

 inches wide and two feet or more long. If 

 sand is used the box should be lined with 

 papers to prevent the sand from sifting out 

 through any cracks. Be sure that the sand is 

 very dry and that no moisture is on the tubers. 

 Bore two holes in the bottom of the box and 

 plug and set the box so that another box may 



3. Attach the label carefully. This is important. A wire 

 label is convenient 



2. Then chop off the stalks, leaving about six inches. A 

 machette is handy for this 



5. Ease up the soil around the Gladiolus and then pull up 

 4. The Dahlia roots may be stored in boxes with dry sand and — (See No. 11) 



6. Lift the Geraniums and pack away in sand, to be moist- 

 ened occasionally during the winter — 



be put under to catch the sand when emptying 

 the box to examine tubers. Ground cork, 

 that can be had at the fruit store, is just as 

 good as sand and much lighter so that the 

 boxes can be easily moved. 



Some kinds, like Maud Adams, General 

 Miles, La Colosse and its children, should be 

 put in neither sand nor cork. We have found 

 that there is less loss from drying up when no 

 packing material is used than there is from 



162 



7. Or, Geraniums may be lifted and tied in bundles with 

 moss around the roots; then hung up in the cellar 



decay when sand or cork is used. If your 

 notebook tells you that certain kinds are apt to 

 dry out, pack those in sand or cork. For the 

 others, line the boxes with ten or twelve thick- 

 nesses of newspapers, bottom, sides and ends, 

 laid smoothly, with papers projecting to fold 

 over top when box is filled. Then lay in the 

 tubers, top side down. There are two good 

 reasons for this — the acrid juice will settle 

 away from the crowns and they will pack 



