180 
tiie amateur’s flower garden. 
and hence those who vend inferior articles experience no 
trouble whatever in making np low-priced packets of balsam 
seed. 
Dahlia.-— As a border flower the dahlia is certainly worth 
the little care it requires, but it is not a first-class border 
plant, though, if regarded from the florist’s point of view, it 
is one of the grandest flowers of the garden, and in rank must 
be placed second only to the rose. When required to form the 
background of a plantation, intermixed with hollyhocks, 
aconites, and other tall-growing plants, it is only necessary to 
put out in the common soil roots that have been stored in sand 
the first week in May, or wait until the first week in June, and 
then put out young plants that have been carefully hardened 
in a frame. The bouquet dahlias are especially valuable for 
the mixed border, because their comparatively small flowers are 
produced in great profusion, and they are more useful as cut- 
flowers than those of the exhibition class. When the frost has 
cut down the plants, the roots should be taken up with a few 
inches of the stem attached as a handle, and be stored away in 
sand in a loft or some other cool dry place. To grow the 
dahlia with a view to the production of fine flowers something 
more must be done than this rude code requires. The roots 
are started into growth on a hotbed or over a tank in a warm 
greenhouse in March, and if a large stock is required the 
shoots are taken off and struck in heat as fast as they can be 
obtained. But if only a few good plants are wanted, the first 
lot of shoots are broken off and thrown away, and the second 
lot are struck; these making better plants than the first. 
They must be kept growing freely in the fashion of bedding 
plants, and be hardened off in like manner for planting out. 
The plantation should be made on a piece of ground that was 
prepared for the purpose in the previous November, by trench¬ 
ing and manuring. It should lie open to the south, but have 
the shelter of trees from the north. A shady or confined spot 
will not do. It is a common mistake to plant early in order to 
obtain extra growth and early flowers. Early planting is a 
needless exposure of the plants to a thousand baneful in¬ 
fluences. The first week in June is the proper time to plant, 
but some time in May, and the sooner the better, the plot 
should be planted with lettuces, and these should be constantly 
hunted for vermin. The proper way to plant is to open 
boles five feet apart, and dig in some good rotten manure to a 
