DAHLIAS —THE ARISTOCRATS OF THE GARDEN 
To the beginner this at first looks sort of puzzling, and one would be loath 
to believe that they would get very few blooms by this method. The truth is 
that you will not only get almost as many, but of almost twice the size, because 
by the time the disbudded bud has matured into a full flower, which takes 
about three weeks, you will have two stems instead of the one you are about 
to cut off, if you so prefer with the large flower, and these two stems will 
each have three buds as the previous one did; so all you do is to repeat the 
same operation on these. It looks hard, but yet is very simple; try it. 
WATERING 
As a general rule Dahlias should not be watered, unless the ground is 
very dry, or during long periods of drought. If you do water them, give 
them plenty so that it will go deep into the ground. Frequent sprinkling of 
the surface does more harm than good, for it brings the roots up near the 
surface, where the hot sun, in many cases penetrates the ground and has a 
tendancy to dry them up, or shrivel them, so that they will suffer from their 
inability to get a constant supply of moisture ,sucb as they would of gotten if they 
had been watered less frequently, but watered well so that the roots would of 
stayed deeper into the soil. 
PROPER TIME TO FERTILIZE 
When the buds begin to form, then begin fertilization. The plant has now 
made the major portion of its growth, and fertilizer will do no harm. If fert¬ 
ilized early the plants are apt to become rank, all stems and foliage, and too tall. 
Old well rotted cow manure worked well into the soil is best. Usually it is 
not obtainable, and in its stead, pulverized sheep manure may be used. Pure 
bone-meal and acid phosphate in equal quantities of each, make a good mixture, 
and a good handful scattered around the plant for a distance of a foot should 
be worked into the soil, but not too deep, as deep cultivation is liable to injure 
the roots at this time. In cultivation we would advise the use of a rake, instead 
of a hoe to lessen the possibility of root damage. 
"PLEASE NOTE" 
We urgently request all of readers and customers to subscribe to the 
FLOWER GROWER, $2.00 per year. A monthly magazine written for flower 
lovers and growers with hundreds of articles and illustrations on the care and 
culture of flowers in general, as well as shrubs, trees, etc. Such as dahlias 
roses, perennials, annuals, and learn the secrets and art of growing these favorites 
to perfection. We feel certain that the Flower Grower will assist you to grow 
more and better flowers. If after reading same, you feel that it is not everything 
we have said of it, we will gladly refund your subscription price. That is the 
confidence we have in this great magazine. To subscribe send $2.00 to us, or to 
the Flower Grower, Calcium, New York. 
Page Sixty-four 
