May, 1918 
41 
DAHLIAS—PERENNIAL and PERMANENTLY POPULAR 
A Short Course in Culture; Including Preparation of the Soil, Planting, Care of the Plants 
through the Growing Season, Storing for Winter, etc. 
WILLIAM C. McCOLLOM 
Y EAR after year the dahlia plods 
along, adding new friends and 
holding the old. New and better in¬ 
troductions each season keep interest 
at a high pitch among dahlia devotees 
and create inspiration for more recent 
admirers. 
One thing that makes the dahlia so 
popular with the masses is its abso¬ 
lute dependability. A mechanical ex¬ 
pert once said about the engine of a 
popular automobile, “You can over¬ 
heat it, boil it over, flood it with oil 
or neglect to oil it, and it will still 
run.” Paraphrased, the 
same is true of dahlias. 
You are always certain 
of returns, no matter how 
neglectful or abusive you 
may be in your treatment 
of the plants. Of course, 
the results are always 
commensurate with the 
treatment accorded, but 
this one trait of yielding 
dividends in spite of all 
obstacles or neglect is 
this flower’s greatest as¬ 
set for most of us. 
We may thank Mexico 
for the dahlia. The 
flowers when first intro¬ 
duced were all single, but 
after a few years under 
cultivation in European 
gardens a double variety 
unexpectedly appeared. 
Since that time various types have 
been introduced, and there are now 
forms to suit the most critical, rang¬ 
ing from the little pompoms or buttons 
to the large, loose, peony flowered 
types and the cactus sorts. 
There are three distinct methods of 
starting dahlias: from roots, cuttings 
and seeds. The first is the most com¬ 
mon method employed because it is 
by far the easiest; cuttings are used 
extensively in increasing the stock of 
new and desirable varieties, and are 
the best for commercial purposes; 
seeds are used in the 
fascinating work of de¬ 
veloping new varieties. 
This last is extremely in¬ 
teresting work. The 
flowers can be cross-fer- 
t i 1 i z e d by artificial 
means, though the great 
majority of dahlia grow¬ 
ers allow the bees to per¬ 
form this task for them. 
In this case, flowers that 
are to be crossed are 
planted in close proxi¬ 
mity to each other. The 
results, of course, are 
problematical, as we do 
not actually know which 
or how many kinds of 
pollen have been de¬ 
posited by the bees. One 
must remember that but 
(Continued on page 70) 
Cross-fertilizing, with its resultant de¬ 
velopment of new varieties, is extremely 
interesting work 
Divide the roots in the spring 
rather than in the fall—the 
tubers shrivel in winter 
Small quantities of dahlia roots can be 
stored in a barrel for the winter, with 
dry sand or sawdust 
