Care of 
Tubers 
Planting 
are dealing with a reliable firm. It is very discouraging to order 
and pay the price for some particular variety you want, then 
to find when it flowers it is not what you ordered. Do not allow 
dealers to substitute — the privilege of selection belongs to you, 
and if you place your order early, naming a date for delivery, 
you should have no trouble in obtaining the varieties you need. 
Amateurs who do not intend to propagate green plants will find 
April soon enough for delivery as the growers generally have 
better storage facilities. If you have any clumps in your cellar 
or storage place, look them over from time to time and be sure 
they are not being kept too dry. A great many Dahlias are 
ruined in this manner, they lose their vitality and the result is 
you have weak, stunted looking plants all the following season. 
At the same time one must guard against having them too warm 
or damp, thereby forcing the tubers into an early unnatural 
growth thus also losing their vitality. The ideal place would be 
where it is dark with just a touch of moisture in the atmosphere, 
and around forty-five degrees. With these conditions your 
tubers will be plump, ready to burst into growth, and will repay 
you for all your attention over the winter. 
In April divide your clumps with a strong knife, leaving 
attached to each tuber a piece of the neck or stalk from last 
year's growth where you will find the eye or growth for next 
season. Remember, the tuber without the eye attached is useless 
and is only provided by nature to sustain the new growth until 
it can form its own roots. Never plant whole clumps, a very 
small tuber properly cut or divided will give you better flowers 
than whole clumps. What you want is a single plant, one main 
stalk — not a whole cluster of growths trying to exist in the same 
space of ground where only one should be. If you have cold 
frames, a good plan would be, late in April, to place your tubers 
(carefully named) in strawberry baskets, lay them almost flat 
in a mixture of sifted cinders or sand, and soil, protect from frost 
but keep them cool as possible, keeping on plenty of air on warm 
days, also keep well watered and when planting time comes in 
late May or early June, you can plant out your Dahlias in a 
growing condition. This you will find a great advantage over 
planting a tuber that has been held in storage until that time. 
Your Dahlia ground should have been dug or plowed deeply, 
ofSoil Dut ^° n °t P ut * n £ reerL manure just previous to planting time, 
Watering ^ ma y P roc ^ uee s0 ^ growth on your plants that cannot resist 
disease or the hot weather to come. If your ground needs 
manure (and what ground does not?) get it turned under the 
previous fall. Failing this, you may, in the spring, dig into the 
ground a good dressing of potato fertilizer or bone meal, the 
latter is the best and safest all-round fertilizer we have. Dahlias 
will grow in almost any soil, but a deep soil, well-drained and 
not too rich, is best. If you have trees near, try to plant your 
Preparation 
24 
