D A H L I A 
NowTor the reasons. The tuber's second sprout is 
always a better one. That's enough reason. But the 
first sprout, unless it started in light, has been very 
seriously handicapped from the start. It is white. It 
shot up in the dark, and the green color of health and 
vigor is lacking. Without the green chlorophyll, which 
can only be formed in the presence of light, plant food 
cannot be organized and absorbed by the plant. The 
first step in plant food formation is the appropriation of 
energy from sunlight by the chlorophyll, which acts as 
a transformer of the sun light-energy. This light-energy 
having travelled 95,000,000 miles, is picked up by the 
plant, or rather by its agent, the green chlorophyll, and 
is used in taking the carbonic acid gas (carbon dioxide) 
out of the air, the water dissolved food substances out 
of the soil, the roots acting as collectors and canvassers 
for the plant. The entire plant food menu is digested, 
and recombined into foods (nourishments) for the plant 
cells, making a new plant by growth, and repairing 
wastes as the plant life progresses. All this has been 
absent in the puny, white sprout's existence. So cut 
it off. It's a poor thing. Incidentally, it may be here 
noted, we can understand the reason for planting far 
enough apart to allow plenty of light and air. Crowded, 
the leaves shut off light and air from one another. 
Plenty of light, free access of fresh, flowing air, is indis- 
pensable for growing the best dahlias, or any plants. 
