100 FIG TORI AL PRACTICAL BULB GROWING. 



manner, with the natural consequence that the appearance of the 

 plants and the quality of the flowers are seriously prejudiced. 



Enemies of Dahlias. — There can be no two opinions as to 

 what is the most inveterate enemy of exhibition Dahlias. It is the 

 earwig, for it will spoil a bloom in one night, and that bloom, as has 

 already been hinted, is sure to be the finest in the garden, 

 especially when one is explaining to ones friends the reason why 

 one's stand failed to carry off some coveted award. For a wiliness 

 that is absolutely uncanny, commend us to the earwig. We 

 place our traps with the utmost care, go round the plants after dark 

 dealing out destruction to every earwig we can find, and retire to 

 rest comfortably assuring ourselves that our blooms are safe until the 

 morning, at any rate. But when morning comes our confidence 

 in our ability to cope with the earwig is roughly shattered, for 

 the one bloom needed to ensure success in the great class has gone 

 to ruin However, these things add sting to our attacks, and we 

 start forth with renewed determination that when next the earwig 

 comes in our way we will exterminate him root and branch. 

 Trapping and hand picking are our only resources, and they must 

 be persisted in until the blooms are actually on the exhibition table, 

 when we may feel reasonably confident that the danger is passed. 

 Some deluded individuals think that placing troughs of water all 

 round the Dahlia quarters will ensure immunity from attack, 

 but they overlook the fact that the earwig can and will fly, so 

 that their labour is absolutely in vain. 



As slugs want everything that the gardener most prizes, it is 

 superfluous to say that they want the Dahlias, and if they can gain 

 access to them when young they will destroy all chances of 

 success in the show tent. Keep the surroundings of the plants 

 scrupulously clean at all periods, as slugs want hiding places, and it 

 •should not be one of the duties of the grower to provide them by 

 having rubbish and litter about the cherished plants. Beyond 

 this, baiting with anything that will attract them and searching at 

 night are the only remedies, or more correctly preventives, for 

 there can be no redress when the plant is spoiled. Green fly 

 will attack the plants at the tips of the shoots, but a pinch of 

 snuff, some tobacco powder dusted upon them, and forcible evening 

 sprayings with clear or soft-soapy water will generally prove 

 efficacious. In all cases it is essential that our attacks be persistent, 

 as intermittent attention is worse than useless by placing us in a 

 position of false security. 



