DAHLIA. 
79 
the crowns invariably break the following spring, 
which is not always the case with plants, raised from 
cuttings, in the ordinary manner. Plant each shoot 
in a small pot, and place them in a frame where there 
is a gentle heat, until they are rooted, which will be 
in a fortnight or three weeks ; shade them from the 
sun, give a little air every day, and water them when 
they are dry. When they are rooted, they may be 
removed to the Greenhouse, or cold frame, and so 
kept until the middle of May, when they may be 
planted out where they are to flower. 
Where the object is to have strong plants, rather 
than a quantity of them, as soon as the shoots have 
grown from six to eight inches high, take them out 
of the bed, and divide the roots by splitting through 
the old stem, preserving a tuber to each shoot, and if 
it is too early to plant them in the Garden, put each 
shoot in a pot according to the size of the tuber, and 
place them where they can be protected till the sea¬ 
son arrives. 
Where a hot bed is not convenient, the roots may 
be divided, with a part of the old stalk attached to each 
root, and planted at once in the garden, and if the 
soil is dry sandy loam, this may be done by the mid¬ 
dle of April, if a clayey or wet soil, in May, planting 
them about four inches deep. 
Soil. —The Dahlia will grow in almost any kind o 
soil, but one of medium quality is best, neither too 
poor nor too rich. Dig holes about a spade deep, put 
in a shovel full of decayed manure or compost, with 
the root, and fill up the hole with the soil dug out, 
