da'hlia. 7 



to bear too close a resemblance to tbe 

 word Dalea, wbicb bad been pre- 

 viously given by Thunberg to a 

 small leguminous genus. As, bow- 

 ever, the words are both spelled and 

 pronounced differently, Professor De 

 Candolle has recommended that the 

 name Dahlia shall be retained, and 

 most botanists of the present day 

 have followed his recommendation. 

 The name Geoigina was given in 

 honour of Georgi, a German botanist 

 who resided for several years at St. 

 Petersburg!]. 



The Dahlia is a tuberous-rooted 

 plant, which is propagated either 

 by seeds, or division of the root. 

 The seeds are chiefly used for raising 

 new sorts ; and they should be 

 treated like tender annuals, being 

 sown on a slight hotbed in February 

 or March, and planted out in May. 

 The plants rarely flower the first 

 year, but the tubers will form in the 

 course of the summer, and may be 

 taken up in autumn with those of the 

 old plants. When the plants are 

 propagated by division of the root, 

 care must be taken that each piece 

 has a bud attached to it. These 

 buds, or eyes, as the gardeners call 

 them, are not scattered all over the 

 tuber, like those of the potatoe, but 

 collected in a ring round the collar of 

 the root. These eyes, when the 

 root is in a dry state, are sometimes 

 scarcely perceptible ; and to discover 

 them, nurserymen often plant their 

 Dahlia-roots in a hotbed, <c to start 

 the eyes," as they call it ; that is, to 

 force the latent buds sufficiently for- 

 ward to show where they are situ- 

 ated, before they divide the roots for 

 the purpose of forming new plants. 

 Sometimes the eyes do not form a 

 ring round the collar or crown of 

 the root, but a considerable portion 

 of it is without any buds. These 

 parts, when divided from the rest, are 

 called blind tubers ; and though, if 



7 da'hlia. 



put into the ground, they will live 

 for several years, sending out abund- 

 ance of fibious roots every year, no 

 gardener has yet been able to induce 

 a blind tuber to form an eye, or to 

 send up a shoot. This peculiarity 

 should be kept in mind by all no- 

 vices in floriculture ; as dishonest 

 persons frequently sell large and 

 healthy-looking tubers, which are, 

 however, worthless, from their being 

 without eyes. To remedy this evil, 

 an expedient has been devised of 

 grafting the tubers of Dahlias in the 

 same manner as is practised with the 

 tubers of tbe Peony in France (see 

 Grafting); but it requires great skill 

 in the gardener to do this success- 

 fully, as the tuber is very apt to rot 

 at the poiut of junction between it 

 and the graft. 



Dahlias are also propagated by cut- 

 tings of the stem, taken from the 

 lower part of the plant ; or young 

 shoots slipt off the tuber with part of 

 the woody fibre attached. The cut- 

 tings should be struck in sand, or 

 very sandy loam, under a bell-glass, 

 and with bottom heat. Great care 

 should be taken to shade them from 

 the direct rays of the sun, till they 

 have thrown out roots ; as the leaves 

 are easily withered, and when this is 

 the case, they cannot be recovered, 

 and the cutting will perish, for want 

 of a due circulation of the sap. The 

 roots will generally form in a fort- 

 night, or at most three weeks. 



The best soil for Dahlias is a com- 

 post of equal parts of sand and loam, 

 with a little peat ; which may be en- 

 riched with part of an old hotbed, or 

 decayed leaves. Manure of any kind 

 should, however, be used very spar- 

 ingly ; as too much will cause the 

 plant to produce strong, coarse-grow- 

 ing leaves and stems, instead of fine 

 flowers. Striped flowers are always 

 clearest and most distinct in their co- 

 lours in poor soil. Dahlias will not 



