494 On the Culture of the Dahlia. 
In propagating by seed, take it when well dried, and sow it in pans 
of light sandy loam, place it in a gentle hot-bed, and give gentle 
waterings until the plants appear; when they have attained three or 
four leaves, transplant them into thimble pots, and treat them in the 
same manner as recommended for rooted cuttings. 
After the plants have been a summer in the open ground, and are 
cut off by frost in the winter, the best preservative is, to cut them down 
even with the ground, and turn a pot or box filled with leaves, over 
them, drawing the earth a little round the pot, and the plants if kept 
dry, will receive no injury in the most severe winters. 
In the spying following, they will put up ten or twelve stems, all of 
which, except three or four of the strongest, should be pinched off ; 
by this method I have had the F. gracilis to grow as high as eight feet 
in the course of the summer, and the other species in like pro})ortion. 
Delta. 
February 17, 1832. 
Article VIII. — On the Culture of the Dahlia. By An 
Amateur Horticulturist? 
I AM not aware that flowers impregnated after the manner descri- 
bed in Mr. Harrison's remarks, page 145, with the farina of any 
other of a favourite colour or form, would have any influence on the 
produce, by the seed participating, with any certainty in the desired 
properties ; and as the results of the experiments are not given, I 
have no means of judging of their effect. 
I have raised seedlings for the last seven or eight years, and from 
the little experience I have had, am inclined to think more depends 
on the quality of the flowers from which the seed is saved, than on 
any art used by the cultivator. When I commenced, I seldom raised 
above two or three semi-doubles in a year, but as I proceeded, having 
better flowers to breed from, I began to get a chance double one, and 
the proportion of such have regularly increased, as my collection was 
improved from which the seed was produced. I should say, last 
year, out of eight hundred seedlings, at least two-thirds were double ; 
they were of every colour known to be in the class — many variegated 
or shaded : among them I selected upwards of sixty I thought worth 
trying another season, of which ten or twelve promise to be superior 
flowers, even in this Age of improvement. 
I have before heard of collecting seed from the two outward tiers 
only, which undoubtedly are the finest, and always ripen best. The 
question is, will it produce the greatest })roportion of double flowers? 
