69 



soft clay, containing 10 per cent, of marl, and one 

 part of rotten wood earth from the carpenter's yard. 

 In this mixture, both young and old plants grow vigor- 

 ously. Holes, in the situations where dahlias are to 

 be planted, are made 15 in. in diameter and 15 in. in 

 depth, and filled with this soil ; and in these holes, 

 so filled, the young plants are turned out, or the old 

 roots inserted. To retain the moisture, and protect 

 the root from excessive heat, the surface is covered 

 with moss. Liquid manure is applied two or three 

 times in the course of the summer. (Prussian Hort. 

 Trans, i.) 



Manures. — We do not agree in opinion with those 

 who think it necessary to grow dahlias annually on 

 fresh soil. On the contrary, we have grown them for 

 ten or twelve years on the same border with undimi- 

 nished beauty. All that is necessary is to dress the 

 soil with a little fresh earth, mixed with decaying ve- 

 getable matters, such as old leaves, or the bottom of 

 an old wood stack. 



At the the Slough Nursery, so celebrated for fine 

 dahlias, they have been grown in the same situation 

 for nearly twenty years, with a little fresh soil added 

 occasionally. The same quarter is under dahlias at 

 the present time, which are growing with undiminished 

 vigour. 



Peat is also an excellent article to mix in the soil 

 when the loam is heavy and close, if it can be pro- 



