52 



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prooiem grows in your garaen wrue to rp-rjTTi r A D H T \T 1\/T A (^ A V T "XT T? 

 the Readers' Service for assistance 1 ±1 H, <jr A Jtt U ±!; 1\ 1V1 ALrAZillN Hi 



February , 1 9 1 f? 





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"If Hack Finn 

 ever had a 



brother, 

 this is he" 



DANNY'S OWN STORY 



By Don Marquis 



"I been around the country a good 'eal, too, and seen and hearn of some awful 

 remarkable things, and I never seen no one that was n 't more or less looney 

 when the search us the femm comes into the case. Which is a dago word I got 

 out'n a newspaper and it means: 'Who was the dead gent's lady friend?'" 



^ Danny enters upon the scene nameless, a baby in a basket, abandoned before 

 the door of Hank Walters, the blacksmith. From that very minute, the fun be- 

 gins — such real, delicious, irresistible fun as only Mark Twain and O. Henry have 

 hitherto furnished the world. 



€j[ Autobiographically, Danny says: "There was n't nothin' perdicted of me, and 

 I done like it was perdicted. If they was devilment anywhere about that town 

 they all says: 'Danny he done it.' And like as not I has. So I gets to be what you 

 might call an outcast." 



^ The boy runs away presently with a peripatetic " Doctor " whose mission is to 

 make known the wonderful powers of " Siwash Indian Sagraw;" and he 

 plunges into the kaleidoscopic life of the patent-medicine fakir, small circus 

 shows and so on, with a zest in life and a human philosophy in his side-splitting 

 humor that are quite amazing. 



Illustrated irresistibly by E. W. Kemble. Fixed price, $1.20 (postage 12c.) 



GARDEN CITY DOUBLEDAY, PAGE COMPANY NEW YORK 



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SRRACTI 



How To Make Dahlia Cuttings 



TO OBTAIN the largest number and the 

 strongest plants from an individual clump 

 of dahlias, it is essential that the clumps intended 

 for propagation should be carefully selected at 

 the time of lifting the roots and should be treated 

 separately from the rest of them. 



The eyes of a dahlia root are located on the joint 

 of the individual tuber to the main stem which 

 is termed the crown. Now and then eyes are 

 found also on the stem two to three inches above 

 the crown. The clump or root should be kept in 

 storage in a place where the temperature is 

 about 45 degrees and should be carefully watched 

 so that it does not dry out. It should at all times 

 be kept in a healthy and plump condition. 



About February first plant the clumps in a green- 

 house bench where the temperature is about 6o 

 degrees during the day and 50 degrees during the 

 night. Bury the clumps in the soil so that the 

 entire crown is above the surface; in order to 

 accomplish this, even one inch or so of the tubers 

 is often above the soil. 



After they are planted take care not to over- 

 moisten the soil as the tubers are liable to rot 

 before they start to grow. The bulbs will slowly 

 swell and the first growth will make its appearance, 

 though sometimes not for three or four weeks after 

 planting. Then increase the temperature during 

 the day and give more water. Do not make any 

 cuttings until three sets of leaves are fully formed. 



The cutting is taken usually in the second joint 

 and care should be taken that the cut is made 

 directly diagonally across the joint; if cuttings 

 are made below or above, no tubers will form from 

 the plant during that season. Place the cuttings 

 in clear sand in a propogating bench which has 

 ample heat underneath it. 



It usually takes from ten to twelve days to root 

 a cutting. From the bench they are potted into 

 25-inch pots, filled with ordinary soil, and placed 

 in a greenhouse of a temperature where carnations 

 are grown. 



Between April 15th and May ist, remove the 

 plants to a coldframe where they can be carefully 

 hardened up. Do not set plants in the open 

 until every possible danger from frost is passed. 



If you are growing any of the plants for exhibi- 

 tion purposes, one can easily figure about ninety 

 days from the time the roots are planted in the 

 open until the flowers are produced. 



By taking the cutting from the second joint 

 and leaving the clump in the earth, new growth 

 appears as branches from the first joint. These 

 again can be used for cuttings. On an average 

 a strong clump of dahlias should produce from five 

 to ten strong, original eyes and, propagating again 

 from the branches of the first joint, the quantity 

 of young plants obtainable from a strong clump of 

 roots should be in the neighborhood of twenty. 



It has been my experience that the first cutting 

 produces the best result and these should be kept 

 separately, for the roots are stronger and the 

 flowers better. The clumps from which they have 

 been propagated can also be used again by careful 

 dividing, and being hardened and cured before 

 they are planted outdoors. 



By "hardening," we mean they should be placed 

 in a coldframe, fresh air being gradually admitted; 

 and by "curing," that the bulb should rest three 

 weeks before it is planted again in the open ground 

 to start new growth. 



Pennsylvania. M. Fuld. 



