OFTHEDAHLIA 45 
Driving the stakes in the holes or furrows before 
laying down the tuber is a guarantee against damaging 
the root in any way. But if the supports are driven 
soon after the plants are up, and are not placed nearer 
than four inches little injury is likely to be done. 
Strips of cloth make tying material that cannot hurt 
the plant. Good sized soft bundle twine will do, and 
may be collected during the year from the packages of 
the family shopping. Twine and string of small size 
is hardly suitable, as it will cut into stems and branches. 
Do not tie tightly about the stem; allow for growth. 
A single season will demonstrate the advantages of 
staking. Rains, plus the whipping effect of winds, les- 
sen the supporting value of the soil about the plants. 
The stalk of unstaked plants will be found growing out 
of a hole two inches or more in diameter by mid-summer. 
Then the August or September "corn breaker" will 
come along and its strong winds will break the stems 
from the roots and tubers, seriously checking the growth 
of the plant, and quite possibly killing it. In one in- 
stance two-thirds of a large plantation was ruined for 
the season by an early August storm. 
A strong staking arrangement can be made with 
two laths. Drive them into the ground ten inches apart, 
the plant between them; each lath slightly sprung out- 
wards is an advantage. Wire the tops of the laths to- 
gether, making several inches flat contact. Leave one 
wire end long enough to attach the label. If one works 
