DISTANCE TO PLANT. 
The proper distance for setting, is the same for both tubers and plants and should be 
not less than 3x4 feet for blooming purposes, if planted in a bed, or 2^ feet, if in a 
single row. The aim in distance should be to leave space sufficient to get around each 
plant for cutting blooms and trimming off the old, faded flowers. Where too much space 
is given, it stimulates a growth of heavy side branches, which often break off with their 
own weight, rendering the plant unsightly. 
As stated above, these distances are for blooming purposes. In commercial nurser- 
ies where they are grown for tubers, they may grown much closer. Excellent crops of 
tubers may be grown by planting 1 by 3 feet. 
Tall growing varieties may be dwarfed to a considerable extent by pinching the top 
from a plant when six inches high. Dwarf varieties, anything under three feet high, should 
not be pinched back. It will make the plant too spreading in its growth. Tall growing 
varieties should be tied to a lath or stake, but this support should not project more than 
four feet above the ground, or it will be unsightly. 
TTie same general rule will govern for both tubers and green plants, as to distance 
and cultivation. 
TIME TO PLANT. 
This, of course, must be governed by the season and location. Tubers may be 
planted much earlier than green plants. Both should be planted as early as safe. In 
planting tubers it is not necessary to wait until frost is past as there will be a delay of 
about twenty days between the time of planting and the appearance of the plant above 
the ground, so if frost in a given locality comes as late as May I 5th the tuber may be 
safely planted May 1st. There is a long season, however, in which both the tubers and 
plants may be set. Tubers planted as late as June 20th, will give good results. Earlier 
planting however, is desirable, as it gives a longer season of bloom, and the tubers become 
better matured. 
Green plants must not be set until all danger of frost is past. 
A good rule for planting tubers would be to plant when lilacs and other early shrubs 
begin to show green buds. 
WATERING. 
This question in Dahlia culture is of primary importance. The Dahlia is quick 
to resent extremes of either wet or dry, so the happy medium must be sought. If permit- 
led to get too dry, there is danger, not only of stunting the growth, but of getting the 
plants infested with the red spider. This insect is very injurious and extremely hard to get 
rid of. Bad as the results may be from neglect in watering, it is no worse, if as bad, as 
the common error of over-watering. Many people drench their Dahlias daily with water, 
whether they need it or not, and then write to know why their plants grow so tall, and have 
so few blooms. 
Next to over-fertilizing, over-watering is the most prolific source of failure. Water 
forces a weak, sappy growth, that is defficient in woody fibre, so necessary to a healthy, 
blooming plant. The reader should understand that this applies to plants in the earlier 
stages of their growth, and before the blooming period begins. A plant that has been 
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