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above it, and the removal of some or all of the other 

 flower buds on the branch. (Gard. and Flor. ii.) 



The plants should be well looked to the first month 

 after planting out ; whatever shoots appear below, 

 where the plant is observed to be swelling to the 

 greatest size, should be removed when in a young 

 state. 



Judicious pruning and thinning will keep up a fine 

 head of bloom until the frost arrives, let them be as 

 early as they may ; but if there is much to cut away 

 at any one time, nothing can be more certain than 

 that the plants have been neglected. 



Watering, — In common with other garden plants, 

 rain or pond water is the best for the dahlia ; and 

 when once established, it does not require watering 

 more than once a week, even in very dry weather. 



Mr. Glenny is of the same opinion on this point of 

 its culture. He says, after a plant is established, 

 water should be given but seldom, and when given let 

 it be as good a soaking of the earth as it would have 

 in three hours' rain ; but if this cannot be done, they 

 should be watered all round the plant for eighteen 

 inches, and not on or close to the plant, for water ad- 

 ministered close to the stem is baked up by the heat 

 of the surrounding soil, and does not reach the fibres 

 at the extremities ; such watering, ten times a day, 

 would not be so effective as a good soaking of the 

 ground once a week : the former checks the progress 



