CULTIVATION 
soils a ten days' hot spell is sufficient to dry out the 
soil to a depth of a foot. Test some neglected corner 
of the garden. The soil can sometimes be found to be 
dry as dust for a depth of twelve inches. Such a con- 
dition is destructive to all healthy plant growth, and 
must not be allowed if one desires dahlia blooms. 
The value of the dust mulch is that it makes irri- 
gation unnecessary. Artificial watering is very apt to 
do harm. Where it is not practiced, and the roots have 
to work for their living, and travel far and deep for 
water, more plant food is discovered by the roots, and 
the water supply is moderate, steady, certain, and ac- 
cording to nature. More hoes and less hose is the rule 
of successful dahlia growers. Keep the dust mulch 
going. 
Dry spells the last of June, and any time, some- 
times all the time throughout July and August, bring 
the danger of a sudden check in growth which is almost 
as disastrous to dahlias as to lettuce. If your plants 
seem to have stopped growing, and present the appear- 
ance of stunted, bushy dwarfs, less than a foot high, it 
is more than probable that their growth has been 
stopped. Too little moisture about the roots is the 
probable cause. Sometimes varying, intermittent 
moisture supply is the reason. A wet spring is followed 
by much rainy weather, and that in turn by hot dry 
days. Then more rain, followed by hot days, repeated 
several times in the course of a month. Unless the 
