THE DAHLIA. 
561 
is a sad drawback to the value of a flower, and 
unless there be some very novel and desirable 
quality they should not be grown by people of 
limited means. 
THE SAVING OF SEED. 
Save no pods but those which have belonged 
to fine specimens of the bloom, and were for 
this purpose marked while in perfection, for it 
is greatly against seed to save it from imperfect 
flowers ; yet nothing is more common than the 
practice of trusting to any pods that may be 
found, without knowing or caring from what 
flowers they originated. The number of hopeful 
seedlings would be greatly increased by the pre- 
caution of picking off all imperfect buds the 
moment their imperfections are discovered, and 
leaving for seed only those which are perfect 
enough to exhibit. There can be no harm in 
planting out some of the best varieties far 
removed from the remainder of the collection, 
so as to get a good variety of seed ; but even 
here all the imperfect buds and flowers should 
be removed, and none but perfect ones allowed 
to produce pods. In this way, with a very good 
selection to begin with, there would be some 
hope of obtaining much better things than we 
possess. 
GENERAL REMARKS. 
The watering of Dahlias, like that of many 
other subjects, is of but little use unless the 
ground be well saturated for a good distance 
round it, or in fact all over, for the supplying 
of water at the root only is of very temporary 
benefit, inasmuch as the parched earth all round 
absorbs the moisture so rapidly that a very short 
time after it is applied it ceases to be beneficial. 
Many persons mulch round the stem with 
dung for some distance, but there are great 
objections to it; first, it is a universal harbour 
for earwigs and other annoying and destructive 
insects, and it is impossible to dislodge or get 
rid of them ; next, it brings the fibres of the 
roots to the top of the soil, and when dry the 
plants suffer in a short time almost past re- 
covery. It is far better to dung the ground 
well, plant rather deep, and water all the ground, 
in preference to wetting merely immediately 
close to the stem. Another bad practice is to 
water often and superficially, instead of seldom 
and downright well ; when the ground has a 
good soaking and the water sinks deep, 
the roots will go after it, and do not suffer 
from every little change of weather. 
There is a mode of grafting the Dahlia which 
it is hardly fair to adopt, because there is no 
excuse for it on ordinary occasions, — for a 
piece that would do for a graft would do for a 
cutting to strike. The evil arising from the 
grafting of a Dahlia is, that the tuber is not a 
representative of the variety, when taken up 
48. 
after blooming, and therefore a grafted plant 
would deceive a buyer. It has been said, too, 
that there is a way of cutting out the eyes at 
the bottom of the plant, so that the buyer is 
unable to calculate on propagating the follow- 
ing season ; this, if it be done at all, is 
nothing short of a robbery, because a Dahlia 
is not worth the money charged except for the 
means of increasing it. We, however, do not 
believe in one half the practices which have 
been attributed to dealers; not that we deny 
such things have been done by an ill-principled 
man, but we believe it to be very rare, and by 
persons of no reputation. The grafting of a 
Dahlia is only justifiable when on account of 
a late season, or the chance of losing a va- 
riety, it may be desirable to propagate every 
morsel, and huny the growth. A good sound 
tuber may be cut on one side, and a small 
cutting of a plant be fitted to it, and tied round 
with a piece of bast-matting and potted, so 
that the tuber and the portion of cutting fitted 
to it be under the surface. This will take 
readily to growth, and advance much more 
rapidly than if it were placed in as a cutting; 
but it is only a plant for the season. The 
tuber is useless, for it is necessary to cut away 
anything that would grow before it is used as 
a grafting stock. With this we close our 
general remarks, and proceed to lay down a 
few simple rules for each month's culture. 
JANUARY. 
The only necessary duty this month is to 
examine as far as practicable all the tubers, 
and if any indicate shrivelling or rotting, let 
them be potted at once, first removing every 
part that is decayed or decaying ; and if there 
be any very choice, that it is desirable to start 
early, for the sake of extensive propagation, 
let them be potted. The collar of the plant 
should be above the surface, and that the pot 
may not be unnecessarily large, reduce the 
tuber by cutting away straggling parts and 
shortening the lobes, that the tuber may take 
up less room. 
FEBRUARY. 
Continue the examination of tubers, and 
besides any that may want immediate atten- 
tion, pot those which may require to be most 
extensively propagated : you may also pot the 
whole collection by degrees, unless, as is 
frequently done, the bulk of them are to be 
planted in a hot-bed; for it is frequently de- 
sirable to place the tubei's side by side in the 
soil of a hot-bed made for the purpose of start- 
ing them, but it is done to save room ; otherwise 
potting is far better, as they may be easily re- 
moved to operate upon, take off cuttings, and 
strike them singly in pots of the smallest size 
but one — called thumb-pots. 
o o 
