September, 1920 
One cannot disbud too severely, for it 
helps rather than hinders the plant. It is 
best to go over the plants every day, during 
the blooming season, for the buds appear 
sometimes in a few hours. It takes but a 
few minutes, and soon each blossom becomes 
an intimate friend as we watch it unfold 
each day. 
Do not be in a hurry to cut a Dahlia 
bloom. Some types take a week to reach 
their full glory. Then cut with a long stem 
never less than 18 inches if it can be helped, 
and better four feet if possible. It is better 
for the plant, and the bloom shows to finer 
advantage on a long stem. 
Storage of Roots. 
When a sharp frost has at last killed the 
tops, the plants should be allowed to stand 
a few days to dry. The stalks may then be 
cut back to within two or three inches from 
the ground. Remove the stakes, and lift 
very carefully with a fork. Tip them upside 
down at once, to allow the water to drain 
out of the hollow stems, and place them in a 
cool shed, free from frost, to dry for a few 
days. 
Pack only in clean sand. There is no 
other method as simple and as sure. Place 
the boxes which are to hold them, in a cool 
dry cellar where there is no danger of freez- 
ing, and yet where the furnace heat cannot 
reach them. Line the boxes with clean 
newspaper and fill to a depth of two or three 
inches with sand, fresh from the pit. Place 
the clumps close together on this, and pour 
in more sand until every tuber is completely 
covered. The sand will settle as it dries, 
and it is well to put more in later if any 
tuber is exposed. After that they need not 
be disturbed until Spring. 
Three hundred plants, after they are in 
the ground should take less than an average 
of an hour a day. So with a few how very 
little time the “Back Yard Amateur” need 
spend ; and how great his reward his own 
story will tell at the end of the season ! 
The known history of the Dahlia covers a 
considerable period, and teems with interest 
to those who are concerned with plant de- 
velopment. One hundred and ten years 
ago one of the forms of Dahlia variabilis 
flowered for the first time in this country, 
and now the descendants of this Mexican 
species are so numerous and diverse as to 
render it difficult to realize that they have 
decended from the species that bloomed in 
Fraser’s nursery in 1802. The fact illustrates 
in a remarkable degree the amount of varia- 
tion that is sometimes to be found in a single 
species. — Geo. Gordon. 
“ The Earliest Flowering Dahlias.” 
Varieties that blossom early, are usu- 
ally sure to give satisfaction, which 
makes them very desirable. The num- 
ber of early bloomers is comparatively 
limited, but they all have good stems, 
produce medium to large flowers, and 
continue to produce them throughout 
the season. 
Frank A. Walker, a deep lavender- 
pink Decorative, is usually the first of 
my Dahlias to blossom, and as it is large 
and has good stems, seems to be one 
of the most popular of the varieties of 
more recent introduction. Darlene is 
always in blossom at the same time, 
and is equally good, with colors similar 
to the old Pond Lily Dahlia, but a far 
better and more desirable blending of 
pink and white. Mina Burgle, which 
is one of the very finest deep brilliant 
red varieties in existence at this time, 
is another of the early and continuous 
Slower (Brower 
blossoming varieties. This variety was 
originated in California, and seems to 
be one of the most popular of the va- 
rieties of recent introduction. In Cac- 
tus Dahlias, Mrs. Henry Wirth stands 
out prominently as one of the earliest. 
This is a very rich deep red, with me- 
dium sized flowers, which are produced 
abundantly. Although not as early, 
Countess of Lonsdale is one of the most 
popular and satisfactory of the Cactus 
Dahlias, and should be in every garden. 
Among the white Dahlias, Queen Wil- 
helmina, is one of the most reliable, 
being a large fluffy semi-double flower 
on long graceful stems. All pompon 
or minature flowering Dahlias are 
early, and in mass plots of one color, 
make a very effective showing. 
J. K. Alexander. 
The schedule of prizes of the New 
York State Fair and Agricultural Ex- 
position just came to my attention, 
and as I notice a large number of 
premiums are offered for Dahlias, both 
to amateur and professional, believe 
all flower lovers in that locality will be 
interested. 
The premiums are very attractive to 
the amateur, as if you have six named 
varieties, of one class, which are of 
good quality you will be able to enter 
for the premium. All flower lovers 
who do not have Dahlias of sufficient 
quality to enter their own, should visit 
the Floral Building, as then is a good 
time to make your selection for next 
spring planting. You have the ad- 
vantage of seeing the colors and types, 
and making comparisons with others, 
which is far better than when you wait 
until spring, when you must search 
over countless names, which are mean- 
ingless if one is not well acquainted 
with Dahlias. 
You may secure a copy of the ad- 
vanced premium list by addressing 
Mr. David Lumsden, Supt., Ithaca, N.Y. 
J. K. Alexander. 
Native Blue Gentians. 
Two of the most beautiful of our native 
wild flowers that appear to be but little 
known excepting by name or poetical allu- 
sions, are the closed or bottle Gentian bo- 
tanicaliy known as Gentian Andrewsii and 
the fringed Gentian (Gentiana crinita.) 
The closed or bottle Gentian resembles 
somewhat in shape and habit of growth, 
the Phlox maculata. The foliage is of a 
pleasing bright green and its flowers that 
appear at the top of its tall erect stems in 
rosettes or clusters are of the deepest blue 
at the top, blending to a lighter blue at the 
base. These large bud-like flowers are not 
only beautiful but extremely interesting 
because they possess the unusual and peculiar 
characteristic of never really opening ; that 
is, they remain closed like a bud, or “bottled 
up,” hence probably the common name. The 
closed Gentian which may be found from 
August until November, in marshes or along 
the borders of moist meadows or woodlands, 
is a hardy perennial and endures transplant- 
ing, but its less common and more beautiful 
relation, the fringed Gentian is not only 
more difficult to domesticate but is also less 
easy to find. Indeed, it is most elusive as it 
actually changes its hiding place from year 
to year. My “springy” meadow is a favored 
haunt ;- still each autumn must I tramp about 
this four acre tract seeking to locate these 
147 
shy blossoms that I know are somewhere 
concealed. For ages, poets have extolled 
the Violet, but for modesty, the fringed 
Gentian is its equal. 
In color this dainty retiring flower is of 
the purest cerulean blue — truly not unlike a 
fragment of sky come down to earth, and in 
form it is molded along perfect classical 
lines. The artist’s “line of beauty” twice re- 
peated describes its vaselike outlines and 
correctness of proportion. A more beautiful 
flower it would be difficult to imagine. All 
those who know this rare flower in its 
haunts, or have had the good fortune to 
see specimens, are most enthusiastic in its 
praises. The fringed Gentian delights in 
rather moist meadows or “woodsy” locations 
and comes into bloom in this section (south- 
ern New York) about the middle of Sep- 
tember. As William Cullen Bryant so aptly 
and beautifully expresses it in the following 
stanzas : 
Thou blossom bright with Autumn dew. 
And colored with the Heaven's own blue, 
That openest when the quiet light 
Succeeds the keen and frosty night. 
Thou waitest late, and com’st alone, 
When woods are bare and birds are flown, 
And frost and shortening days portend 
The aged year is near his end. 
Then doth thy sweet and quiet eye 
Look through its fringes to the sky, 
Blue -blue— as if that sky let fall 
A flower from its cerulean wall. 
The pity of it is that this floral treasure is 
so rare and appears to be less frequently seen 
than in former times, also that most at- 
tempts to transplant it to home gardens 
have proved unsuccessful. Then, too, with 
the encroachment of civilization, this shy 
flower has receded and so is seldom found 
anywhere near centers of population. Its 
late-blooming habit, which often prevents its 
seed from reaching full maturity, is also a 
potent factor in the threatened extermina- 
tion of this exquisitely lovely wilding, whose 
habitat is over comparatively a restricted 
area of North America. — Bertha Berbert- 
Hammond in Gardeners’ Chronicle. 
The Trees. 
The trees have music of their own, a soft 
and soothing monotone, that lulls a man to 
rest. I have a volume to peruse, but, under 
them, I snore and snooze, my chin upon 
my breast. To sit beneath a swaying birch 
is much like being in a church ; your 
drowsy eyelids close and to the realms 
of dreams you hie, until an active, loathsome 
fly camps down upon your nose. How often 
I have lain awake until I saw the morning 
break, and slumber would not come ; and I 
would sadly leave the hay, to face another 
toilsome day, all punk and on the bum. My 
nights are often things of dread, I toss 
around upon my bed, and find no comfort 
there ; but when I sit beneath a tree, the 
sweet restorer comes to me, its coattails in 
the air. The trees have voices sad and 
sweet, their world-old music they repeat, 
a solemn, sylvan choir ; the same old song 
they used to sing when Earth was but a 
half-baked thing, and mortals worshipped 
fire. They croon their mournful lullaby 
while men are born, grow up and die, they 
sigh with every breeze ; and when I quit this 
vale of tears I hope to sleep a million years 
beneath the nodding trees. — Walt Mason 
in The Canadian Countryman. 
Index for Volume VI (1919) The 
Flower Grower is ready and maybe 
had for 10c. in stamps by those who 
wish to have their copies bound. We 
can furnish bound copies postage^pre- 
paid to any part of the world for $2.50. 
The Flower Grower we believe will 
become increasingly valuable as the 
years pass. 
