E. Bridgewater Dahlia Gardens J. K. Alexander , E. Bridgewater , Massachusetts 
them as cool as possible over night, thereby enabling 
them to withstand handling, packing and transporta¬ 
tion. 
WATERING. The amount of watering depends 
largely upon the locality and amount of rainfall. 
In regions where the rainfall is scanty and where 
sprinkling and irrigation must be regularly practised 
Dahlias should be watered more frequently than 
in localities where there is abundant rain. Watering 
is very beneficial adding perfection to blossoms and 
richness to color, but do it judiciously. A thorough 
soaking, with the soil stirred the following day is excel¬ 
lent; but a constant surface sprinkling every day 
causes surface roots and soft growth. When you have 
continuous dry hot weather, I recommend that you 
water your Dahlias as often as you think it beneficial. 
HARVESTING. The harvesting and packing for 
winter is very important, upon which depends your 
future success. Should you lose your Dahlias during 
the winter, you will the obliged to buy new ones in 
the spring; therefore, these suggestions are important. 
Dahlias should be harvested shortly after their 
foliage has been killed by frost. I find from experience 
that as soon as the frost kills the foliage, the strength 
of the stalk recedes into the bulbs. By digging two or 
three days after your plant has been killed by frost, 
your clumps are in a perfectly dormant condition, 
having no sprouts, keeping perfectly all winter and 
sending forth sprouts in the Spring, which is the proper 
time. 
Dahlias may be dug with fork, spade or plow. In 
digging or harvesting the clumps great care should be 
taken. Dig them and dig very carefully; do not pull 
them up. You have large clusters of bulbs; each bulb 
has a neck, which is the small portion between the bulb 
and where it joins the stalk. The clumps should be 
dug or lifted carefully, so as not to break the necks of the 
bulbs. If you crack, girdle or break the necks some¬ 
times they will dry up, other times decay. How¬ 
ever, when the clumps are divided, the bulbs with 
broken necks are weak and not as good and it re¬ 
quires longer for the bulbs to become established 
before they commence to grow after they are planted 
in the ground. After removing the clumps, shake 
gently to remove the soil that would naturally fall 
off. Cut off tops within two or three inches above 
tops of clumps, allowing them to be exposed to the 
sun and air for only an hour or two. Do not allow 
them to stay out two or three days to dry up, then 
wonder why they are withered and fail to sprout. 
Pack in a cool, frost-proof place where extremes 
of temperature may be avoided—a place having an 
average temperature of about 45 degrees. Do not 
cover or pack in any material or with any substance. 
Cork, sawdust, shavings, coal ashes, sand or earth, all 
hold and retain a dampness or moisture which is 
unnatural, making it too close, compact and damp, 
causing the clumps to start to mildew or decay. 
Would you pack your potatoes in any of the above? 
Simply pack clumps one on top of the other, placing 
each clump upside down. Undoubtedly you are 
aware that the Dahlia stalk is hollow and that' this 
hollow contains a watery substance or acid. If you 
pack your clumps with the stalks up, the acid will 
flow back into the crown of the clumps, causing decay, 
whereas, if you turn your clumps upside down the acid 
must flow out, and clumps will remain in a perfectly 
dormant condition. Pack clumps upside down in 
boxes or barrels, packing one on top of the other. Dah¬ 
lias in an old-fashioned cellar will keep first-class 
without any covering; in a cellar having a cement 
bottom or heat, the boxes or barrels should be lined 
with heavy paper and covered with paper or burlap. 
Covering with paper or burlap excludes the air and 
preserves a more even temperature. In heated places 
the circulation of air and heat causes the bulbs to 
shrivel and dry up; a covering of this kind prevents 
the roots from shrivelling. 
DIVISION OF CLUMPS.— Although I divide 
clumps all winter, it is because of the number of clumps 
I have to divide; I recommend that the amateur wait 
until spring before dividing. Dahlias keep during the 
winter much better in clump form. In the spring the 
clumps commence to send out sprouts which aid in 
dividing properly. 
Take the Dahlia clump as it was harvested, with 
the portion of the original stalk from which the top was 
removed same as shown in the ac¬ 
companying illustration). 
Upon examining the clump you will 
notice that the tubers formed at the 
base of the stalk, and that each tuber 
has a crown, neck and body. The 
crown being the bulging portion where 
it is connected with the clump, the 
neck the small portion between the 
crown and the body of the tuber. By 
examining carefully, small eyes or 
sprouts can be detected on the crown 
and stalk base. These eyes produce 
the new plants, so in separating, it is 
necessary that each tuber have an 
eye. Without an eye the tuber is 
absolutely worthless. 
In separating a sharp knife should 
be used and great care taken. The 
best way is to remove each tuber 
individually but in cutting it is neces¬ 
sary that each tuber have a crown or a 
portion of the stalk, as it is upon this 
that all eyes grow. 
First of all, select the tuber that 
you think can be most easily removed. 
With the point of your knife cut deeply 
into the base of the stalk (the black 
lines in the illustration showing place 
to cut) cutting so to leave an equal 
amount of the stalk-base for each 
tuber, and so that each tuber had its 
crown. By cutting deeply into the 
stalk-base on both sides, the tuber 
becomes separated from the clump, 
leaving a “V” shaped portion of the 
stalk base as a crown or head, upon 
which the eye is found or will grow. 
The next tuber favorably located from 
the separating standpoint can then be 
chosen, and removed by again cutting 
the stalk-base, and so on until the 
stalk-base becomes the crown of each 
individual tuber. 
