54 



DOUBLE DAHLIA. 



Widnall's Aurora, fine scarlet, - - C 



Widnall's Flora, fine quilled rose 3 - - - - £) 



Wells's Dwarf Yellow, bright yellow, D 



William the Fourth, (Barret's) fine scarlet, C 



Zelinda, beautiful purple, D 



Nothing is more simple than the cultivation of these 

 plants. In March or April, the roots, if properly 

 kept through the winter, will begin to sprout around 

 the old stems and tubers. To forward these sprouts 

 in growth, the roots should be either buried in light 

 earth, on the top of a moderate hot-bed, or else potted, 

 and then set into a warm room, or green-house, and 

 watered. As soon as the shoots have grown to the 

 length of two or three inches, the roots may be divided 

 in such a manner as to have a good strong shoot 

 attached to a piece of the tuber, or old stem ; each of 

 these will, if properly managed, make a plant. Those 

 who may commence cultivating at an early season, 

 should put the plants thus separated into small pots, 

 and keep them in a growing state until about the 

 middle of May, at which time they may be turned out 

 of the pots with the balls of earth entire, and planted 

 in the open borders, from three to four feet from each 

 other. Let the ground be well pulverised, and en- 

 riched with good old manure, before the plants are set 

 out. If the top soil be shallow, and the subsoil infe- 

 rior, it would be beneficial to the plants, if holes be 

 dug to the depth of from a foot to eighteen inches, and 

 then replenished with good rich compost, consisting of 

 two-thirds fresh loam, and one-third of well-rotted 

 manure. 



Many cultivators have found late planting to suit 



