AUTUMNAL MANAGEMENT OF FLOWERS. 
221 
the whole be carefully picked over in search of wire worm and 
grubs ; nor must any trouble be spared on this account; for it 
should be thought of, that all previous and anticipated success 
depends most materially upon how the search is conducted, and 
without extreme vigilance the death of many plants will probably 
result. After potting, keep the bottom of the pots clear of the 
ground, that no worms or slugs may gain ingress to torment you 
through the winter; but let the plants have abundance of air at 
all times for the next six months, or they will become weak and 
sickly. 
The Tulip bed should be made up by mixing the usual soil 
ready for placing in the bed, which, being emptied of that con¬ 
tained in it through the past year, should have a layer of rotten 
manure laid in, and the prepared soil placed over it. The roots 
should be duly arranged at leisure intervals, that when the planting 
season arrives everything may be ready. 
Dahlias should be thinned and tied out. A great error pre¬ 
vails in the ordinary method of doing this. It is quite a mistake 
to cut the plants so unmercifully as is usual; it is a waste and 
an injury to allow the branches to grow to a flowering size, merely 
for the purpose of cutting them away again. Whatever reduc¬ 
tion may be necessary, either of stems, leaves, or flowers, should 
be done when the parts are small. This economises the power 
of the plant, and, besides, it is more easily performed (with the 
thumb and finger) than when grown to large size. Every bloom 
that may be required for exhibiting should be protected in boxes 
attached to the stalks, or they will not be secure a single hour, 
either day or night, for the depredators on these flowers are 
beyond calculation. By the end of the month mulch should be 
spread over the ground round the stems, lest a severe frost in 
the next month should injure the crown of the roots. Pot-roots 
may be dried; unless any are flowering and can be protected, in 
which case their beauty maybe prolonged for a considerable period. 
Pinks are great sulferers. The earliest plants which were got 
out before the storm, have too generally been broken off, and are, 
consequently, useless for flowering. Those which were still in 
the striking bed, or where they were first pricked out, may have 
stood it better. Vacant spaces, originating in whatever cause 
they may, should be filled up without loss of time, or the plants 
