THE DAHLIA. 
31 
some extent on their own account, and few enjoy the true delight 
of a garden more fully; they know something of the trouble, 
and therefore can appreciate the pleasure, for to him who grows 
a plant up from a cutting or seed, its beauties are as apparent as 
the sun at noon, while to another they require pointing out; for 
the advantage of gardeners of this class, it is necessary to go 
occasionally over our primary lessons, and therefore the following 
notes are penned. Dahlias forming one of the principal embel¬ 
lishments of such gardens, and the season for their propagation 
being at hand, I shall proceed with the subject without further 
circumlocution. 
Where there exists the least desire to arrive at something more 
than the barest mediocrity, the garden is sure to contain at least 
a two-light box, and this must now be brought into requisition. 
If not done in the autumn, it should have a good coat of paint, 
as much for the extirpation of insects which congregate in the 
crevices, as for the preservation of the wood. By the last week 
of the month it should be ready, and a load of hot stable dung 
having been previously turned two or three times to sweeten, as 
gardeners call it, the bed should be made; but as this is more 
properly the regular gardener’s job, I need not enter into the mode 
of doing it. 
When the heat has subsided to about 60°, and become steady, 
the roots may be brought from their hybernatory and placed in 
the frame, just covering the points of the tubers with a little 
light earth, and in about ten days or a fortnight they will evince 
symptoms of growth ; until this time it will be advisable to keep 
the frame constantly covered with mats, merely tilting the lights 
at the back sufficiently to prevent an accumulation of steam. 
Keeping the roots in the dark in this manner accelerates their 
starting, as they are then in a somewhat more natural position ; 
but when the young shoots begin to show themselves, light must 
be admitted, and plentifully too, or they soon become etiolated. 
As they arrive at about three inches in length, they should be 
taken off close to the tubers, and without other preparation than 
squaring the end, be placed each one in a small sixty-sized pot filled 
with sandy leaf-mould, covering them either individually with 
small glasses, or a number together under an ordinary hand-light, 
placed on the warmest part of the bed; some attention will be 
