LARGE BLOOMS 23 
gardeners as waterlogged. Water your garden only 
when it is exceedingly dry. Thorough soakings, say a 
week apart, are much better than "sprinklings" every 
day or so. In one case the plants "get all there is, in 
t'other, only part." Just wetting the surface of the 
ground always does a great deal more harm than good. 
"The human side of plants" exhibits the very common 
trait of laziness. When you merely sprinkle your 
garden the roots emulate the example of their care- 
taker and follow the line of least resistance. They 
grow near the surface where "the water is fine." But 
this surface water flies away with one day's hot sun, 
the roots become dry and are nearly killed, sometimes 
quite destroyed, with the very first day that your 
"sprinkling" is omitted. Let the roots hustle for their 
living. If the soil has been dug or plowed deep enough, 
and you keep the dust mulch up with hoe or rake, your 
dahlias will be aboundingly successful in any normal 
season. 
Of course too little water causes the dahlia to be- 
come "woody." It hardens itself as a self -protection 
measure, to better withstand the drouth. This in- 
variably means loss of blooms, and dahlias are grown for 
flowers, hence the great importance of a proper water 
supply. Dahlias only flower on soft, succulent growth, 
which vigorous, well-nourished plants growing in moist 
soil make. Lacking sufficient water there is a reduced 
tension of cell walls, the food supply from the soil is 
