504 
[ June 22, 1893. 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
THE DAHLTA. 
[A paper read before the members of the Sheffield Floral and Horticultural Society by 
Mr. M. H. WlLLFORD.] 
(^Concluded from page 485.") 
As a support place a strong stake, say 5 feet 6 inches long by inch 
square in each hole before planting, so that the roots do not get 
damaged in driving the stake into the ground, as is very often the case. 
Some advise watering well at the time of planting; I think this a 
mistake, for when the soil is in a sodden state the roots do not take to 
it as quickly as they will to a warm and dryish soil. If the plants 
droop at all they should be shaded from bright sunshine and the foliage 
watered with a fine rose. When the plants are established I mulch 
them with about 3 inches of manure and level the surface, after this 
they require little else but copious supplies of water, and when water is 
given it must not be in driblets, but when you think you have given 
sufficient just give it as much again, and you will soon see how it is 
appreciated. Some growers object to top-dressing in the form of a 
mulching of manure, contending that it causes the roots to come to the 
surface, so they feed the plants entirely with liquid and chemical 
manures. 
Now comes the question. How much growth is it necessary to let the 
plant carry? Some advise taking off all the side growths but about 
three or four, then rubbing off the laterals as they come. I think the 
results are equally as good by letting the plant make a fair sized bush) 
taking care that there is no lack of air and light; then, when the plant 
has made its breaks from the main stem, take off all the laterals that 
come on the side shoots and you will have plenty of buds to select from, 
so that if some are deformed or not good enough you have others that 
are, and when it is decided which to keep you can disbud, and let those 
selected have the full benefit of the food stored up in the plant. 
In growing blooms for exhibition purposes some protection is abso¬ 
lutely necessary. Almost every grower has a way of his own for doing 
this. Some grow them on boards covered with a flower pot with the 
bottom knocked out and a piece of glass laid on the top, or a similar 
contrivance, right from the bud to the mature bloom ; others merely 
shade or shelter them from the sun and rain ; others bag them and 
shade until a few days before they are wanted, then if they are not 
quite up in the centre they will board them and cover with a pot or 
bell-glass. A friend of mine uses a contrivance made of four pieces of 
board with a glass top in two pieces, forming a small span-roofed 
cover. He finds this to distribute the rays of the sun better than a flat 
piece of glass, bringing up the centre and keeping the bloom in better 
shape. 
Insect pests should be our next consideration, as the Dahlia is much 
troubled with these. Snails must be carefully looked for, or they would 
soon destroy young plants. The earwig or twinge is also very fond of 
the Dahlia. There are many methods tried to keep the plants clear of 
these nightly visitants, one of which will spoil in a few hours a flower 
that has been cared for and watched with interest for a week or more. 
A few of the methods used are placing hollow sticks, such as elder with 
the pith picked out, old bean stalks, or what are commonly known as 
“ keeks,” amongst the foliage to be used by the earwigs as hiding places. 
Some use pieces of paper rolled up loosely into a ball for the same pur¬ 
pose, but I think we cannot mend the old-fashioned way of placing a 
small pot with a little dry grass in it on the top of the stakes, because 
they are so easily examined. The next pests are the green and black fly. 
Some folk say if you keep the plants growing they will not be troubled 
with the fly, but I find if I do not keep watering the foliage and 
occasionally syringing with softsoap water they will appear, even if the 
plants are growing freely. 
Another insect plague is a kind of microbe which feeds on the young 
shoots and grows with the plant. There is only one way of getting 
rid of it that I know of, and that is to dig up the plants that are 
affected and burn them. 
Now, having arrived at the flowering period, I think it will be 
advisable to look at the much-argued point of dressing the blooms. 
What constitutes dressing ? Where does dressing end and “ faking ” 
begin ? I think that to get good and perfect blooms, dressing, to a 
certain extent is necessary, but this can generally be done during the 
growth of the blooms; when it comes to taking out the centres, seed 
eyes, and green scale, and placing the petals, then I think it is not 
fair growing. 
After the blooming period comes the question. What are we to do 
with the tubers? When the first frost has touched the foliage, cut 
^ the plants down to 6 inches from the ground, take up the tubers, 
and lay them upside down under a frame light until they are ripened, 
then store them aw’ay in a damp and frost-proof place until it is time 
to start them again, Some growers score their tubers in sawdust, dry 
sand, and I have heard of them being stored in bran, but it does not 
matter much how they are stored, so long as they are kept from 
shrivelling on the one hand and decaying on the other ; they will in 
most cases start into growth when the time comes, 
A few of the best varieties are the following (taken from “ E. M.’s ” 
analysis of the National Dahlia Society’s Shows, published in the Journal 
of Horticulture of March 30th this year), and which may well be 
repeated for the guidance of purchasers of plants. 
Pompons. —E. F. Junker, Darkness, White Aster, Favourite, Grace, 
Isabel, Lady Blanche, Phoebe, Whisper, Gem, Admiration, and Bed 
Indian. 
Cactus. —Duke of Clarence, Juarezi, Robert Mayher, Marchioness of 
Bute, Panthea, St. Catherine, Delicata, and Kynerith. The three last 
named were only sent out in 1892. Of the still newer varieties 
Countess of Radnor and Bertha Mawley are of sterling merit. 
Decorative Varieties. —Mrs. Hawkins, Amphion, Empress of India, 
Honoria, Mrs. Douglas, Black Prince, Charming Bride, and William 
Darvil. In addition to these you will find that Beauty of Brentwood, 
Henry Patrick, Asia, Miss Jeykel, Lady Kerrison, and W. T. Abery are 
also very good. 
Singles. —Amos Perry, Miss Henshaw, Victoria, W. C. Harvey, Chil- 
well Beauty, Duchess of Fife, Florence Fisher, Marion Hood, Miss 
Roberts, Northern Star, and White Queen. 
Shoic Dahlias. —Mrs, Gladstone, William Rawlings, R. T. Rawlings, 
Harry Keith, Colonist, Mrs. Langtry, William Garrett, James Cocker, 
Henry Walton, Maud Fellowes, Ethel Britton, and J. T. West. 
Fancy Dahlias. —Mrs. Saunders, Rev. J. B. M. Camm, Duchess of 
Albany, Mrs. J. Downie, Frank Pearce, Matthew Campbell, Henry Eck- 
ford. Gaiety, Peacock, T. W. Girdlestone, Chorister, and Mrs. N. Halls. 
NOTES ON STRAWBERRIES. 
Strawberry Noble. 
This Strawberry has done uncommonly well with me this year. 
The blossoms are very susceptible of frost, even before they have opened, 
but we had no such hindrances this season, and the great piles of 
enormous fruit, not one large one only, but several to each truss, have 
been quite a sight to see. They have been a great delight to the poor 
and sick, who have, with much welcome, shared our abundance. . I 
expect this variety will have a boom this year for market and family 
use ; and, considering its earliness, great size, and huge crop, I think it 
is, in a favourable season, the finest Strawberry yet raised for—giving 
away ! 
For personal use we have contented ourselves with the considerably 
smaller (but much better flavoured) Vicomtesse Hericart de Thury; 
that is, as soon as it came in, which was not for quite a week after 
Noble.—W. R. Raillem. _ 
I COMMENCED to gather Strawberries on June 12th (Garibaldi and 
John Ruskin) ; the usual time for these varieties to ripen here is the 
beginning of July. President was gathered five days later. The season 
will be short, the crop scant, and the fruit small. Our heavy land has 
stood the drought well, but every day is telling more and more upon it, 
and unless rain will shortly come all crops will be small in sample and 
short in bulk. 
John Ruskin is not equal to Garibaldi in flavour or texture of flesh. 
It greatly lacks the melting character of the latter Strawberry. How¬ 
ever, it is quite distinct from any variety I have seen, therefore an 
agreeable change; it is also more uniform in shape than most sorts. I am 
testing a seedling of my own raising which greatly resembles John Ruskin 
in berry, but of superior flavour. The fruit is a shade smaller.— 
G. McDougall, Ravenna Cottage, Stirlvig. 
Readers of the Journal of Horticulture must have been pleased 
with the interesting note on Strawberries on page 476. The selection of 
varieties which Mr. Edward Luckhurst gives is an excellent one through¬ 
out, and as he invites criticism and any addition to his list I offer a few 
notes as to the behaviour of one or two varieties mentioned. 
Amongst the earlier kinds Keens’ Seedling on our heavy clayey land, 
however well worked, gives us only a poor return to such varieties as 
Noble, Sir Joseph Paxton, and Vicomtesse Hericart de Thury. In the 
case of Noble many will argue that Keens’ Seedling is infinitely superior 
to that as regards flavour. This I admit, but where sugar and cream 
are used in conjunction with the fruit Noble is one which cannot well 
be done without, hence I have discarded Keens’ Seedling. Another 
variety which I do not see mentioned amongst the early kinds is Pauline. 
This with us is a most remarkable cropper, more especially if grown 
annually, as the plants by some cause soon run out if left more than 
two years. It is not one of the prettiest fruits, either as regards shape 
or colour ; the hard fluffy lump so often found in the inside of the fruit 
is a drawback. Dryness at the root often causes this, but if the plants 
are raised annually, well mulched and supplied with water, a decided 
