44 131)£ JHower (Brower 
I THE DAHLIA. 
Preparing and Plant- 
ing Dahlia Bulbs. 
By J. K. Alexander. 
[ IV ritten expressly for The Flower Grower. ] 
Incredible as it may seem I have 
heard not once but a dozen times of 
amateur Dahlia growers planting an 
entire field-grown clump of Dahlia 
roots in one hill ; and, of course, when- 
ever this happened the complaint that 
reached this office about the unsatis- 
factory results in growing Dahlias was 
swift and long drawn out. 
Dahlia clumps should be divided at 
planting time in the spring ; first, be- 
cause the roots keep better through 
the winter in clump form, and second 
because by spring the eyes will have in 
all probability made the beginnings of 
a sprout, which greatly simplifies mat- 
ters when it comes to separating. If 
the eyes have not started and you are 
in doubt as to being able to detect 
them, place the clumps in a warm 
place and moisten them slightly. In a 
few days the eyes will be readily dis- 
cernible. 
Dahlia Clump, Showing Proper 
Method of Dividing. 
Perhaps the simplest and most satis- 
factory way to divide the clumps is to 
first cut completely in halves, taking 
care to have the eyes as nearly as pos- 
sible evenly distributed between the 
two portions. Then separate each bulb 
so that a portion of the crown will be 
left on each one. Great care should 
be taken in this operation, for as the 
crown is the only part of the root that 
throws out sprouts, a bulb that has no 
crown is, of course, worthless. A 
glance at the illustration will show 
clearly the proper method of separat- 
ing the individual bulbs. 
I might add right here, that the size 
of the bulb in no way determines the 
size or quality of the blooms. In fact 
I prefer a small or medium sized bulb 
to a large one for as a rule the large, 
overgrown bulbs are the last year’s 
planting from which the new bulbs 
have grown ; while if planted it will 
make a good, strong plant with good 
blooms the new growth of bulbs will 
be very unsatisfactory. I have dug 
hundreds of these large, old bulbs that 
have not produced a single new tuber ; 
and recognizing this fact many growers 
make a regular practice when dividing 
their clumps of cutting out this old 
bulb and throwing it away as worth- 
less. 
The bulb should be planted six inches 
deep and placed flat in the furrow ; 
not on end nor at any angle. I have 
noticed many times that six inches by 
rule and six inches by guesswork are 
apparently two very different dimen- 
sions. There is something deceiving 
to the eye about the depth of a hole in 
the ground. For instance, if you live 
in the country and have a well ask any 
inexperienced visitor to name the 
depth of it. If it is fifteen feet he will 
guess twenty-five every time. It is the 
same with plowing; eight inch plowing 
more often than not turns out to be 
about six inches when a two foot rule 
is placed in the furrow. So when 
planting your Dahlias make sure that 
you plant them six inches deep. With 
this depth and with proper cultivation 
it will be a very severe drought indeed 
that will have any serious effect upon 
them ; and furthermore, nothing short 
of a hurricane will blow them over. 
The time of planting is the time to 
decide what method of training you 
will pursue. There are three systems 
from which to choose: Staking, branch- 
ing and massing. For all purposes 
except the growing of exhibition flow- 
ers 1 unhesitatingly recommend the 
last named. 
When using the staking system the 
bulbs should be planted about three 
feet apart in the rows, and the stakes 
should be set when the Dahlia is 
planted. As soon as the plants attain 
a height of about two feet they should 
be secured to the stake firmly. By 
this system each individual plant has 
ample room and opportunity to ex- 
pand, and there is very little danger of 
their getting blown over or broken. 
Also for trimming, disbudding, etc., 
this system is ideal and is the one al- 
ways adopted for the growing of ex- 
hibition stock. 
For the branching system, plant in 
hills from 18 to 30 inches apart. When 
the plant has two sets of leaves, that is 
four leaves in all, pinch or cut off the 
entire top of the plant above the upper 
set of leaves. At each leaf a branch 
will start, making four branches, one 
for each leaf. When the plant is fully 
grown it will have a short, strong, 
single stalk which comes only an inch 
or two above the ground, and four 
main branches or flowering stalks. 
The plant will be low with a neat, 
branching appearance and the strong 
branches close to the ground will make 
itself supporting. This system retards 
the flowering of the plant about two 
weeks, but the four flower stalks will 
produce many more blooms than the 
original single stalk plant. 
The massing system is the one I 
use in planting my immense fields. It 
avoids the extra labor and expense of 
April, 1918 
staking, the woodeny effect of stakes in 
your garden and gives a solid mass of 
foliage and flowers which is much 
more beautiful and effective than where 
the beauty is broken by the stakes and 
necessary spacing. When the plants 
are in full bloom nothing is equal to 
the massing system. The bulbs are 
planted in rows from ten inches to one 
foot apart in the rows and when grown 
will be found self-supporting, each 
plant protecting and supporting its 
neighbor. 
This system requires, of course, more 
tubers for a given space ; but I think 
that with only a few bulbs at his com- 
mand a grower will make no mistake in 
adopting the massing system. Use 
what bulbs you have, and if there is 
space left over plant something else, 
or better still buy extra bulbs. 
The American Gladiolus Society. 
MEMBERSHIP CAMPAIGN. 
To the Editor 
It may interest you to know that B. 
H. Tracy has ordered and agreed to 
mail, entirely at his own expense, 2,000 
copies of the Membership Blank of the 
American Gladiolus Society with his 
name imprinted thereon, and Jelle 
Roos, of the Central Gladiolus Gardens, 
Milton, Mass., has agreed on the same 
basis to take 2,500 copies. John Scheep- 
ers & Company, of 2 Stone Street, New 
York City, has agreed to take 250. 
The splendid spirit manifested by 
these people is an indication of the 
confidence reposed in us and our cam- 
paign, and gives us great encourage- 
ment and satisfaction. I hope that 
other firms throughout the country 
may come forward to join in the work. 
The cost of these circulars is very 
slight, and they are very light in 
weight. 
I am undertaking to mail out 25 of 
these blanks to each of the Secretaries 
of the Garden Clubs affiliated with the 
Garden Clubs of America. Anybody 
having any suggestions for the further 
activities of the Membership Committee 
are cordially invited to make the same 
known. 
The Membership Committee actually 
comprises every person who has an in- 
terest in the Gladiolus Society. The 
names published in the Roster of the 
Committee, are but a suggestion of the 
actual membership committee. 
Joseph J. Lane, 
Chairman Membership Committee. 
Don’t forget to grow some seedlings 
this year. Most Gladiolus growers 
save some seed each year and it can 
be had by applying to our advertisers. 
Seedlings are extraordinarily interest- 
ing and have great possibilities. 
The war garden described on page 38 
of this issue has stood the test of actual 
experience, and it is not based on 
somebody’s guess-so or theory, but on 
the actual results of what was done last 
year. Such things we are always 
pleased to publish. 
