LARGE BLOOMS 31 
moisture from the soil for a distance of two or three 
feet. Dig deeply among the roots of a dahlia, and also 
four or five feet from the plant and observe the differ- 
ence. Dry, hot days come earlier some years than 
others, but when the buds begin to open it is time to 
begin watering. The best way is to heap up a basin- 
shaped mound of earth around the plant, about two 
feet in diameter, and into this basin empty three or 
four pails of water as often as every three or four days. 
Fertilizer is used to obtain size, water to make richness 
of color and perfection." 
Dahlia Shows "class" exhibitors, and this is fair and 
just. Commercial growers, gardeners, nurserymen, 
florists, and persons who have a gardener regularly in 
their employ are classed as "Professionals." The pos- 
session of a business card, or a letter head also generally 
classes a dahlia raiser as a professional. "Semi-Pro- 
fessionals" are those who do not regularly employ a 
gardener, and who do not gain their livelihood from dah- 
lia growing, but who do sell or trade dahlias for profit. 
"Amateurs" are those who grow dahlias for pleasure 
and do not sell or trade for profit. 
No one is so fortunate as the amateur, and one is 
tempted to say that the beginner is the happiest. Con- 
cern for profits is not among the worries of the grower 
for joy alone. His fresh, unbiased outlook, enthusiasm, 
the amazing wealth of horticultural knowledge, the 
recorded experience of thousands of gardeners, that is 
