DAHLIAS. 
107 
for the branches may be trained to any desired form, with all the 
advantage of having plenty of blossoms wherever they may be 
most required. This annual pruning must never be left to a later 
period than that at which the plants are shifted ; the decidedly 
superior contour of plants so treated will be evident. The first 
season and in each succeeding year, their appearance will improve 
because of the greater number of branches which will go on 
annually increasing, and from their flexuous character, it is always 
easy to draw the outer ones down to cover the stems, so that the 
base of the plant must always be filled, and that with young wood 
of a kind that is certain to yield an abundance of flowers. 
F. Eiiiierd. 
DAHLIAS. 
Now that the season is fast approaching for preparations being 
made to plant out the dahlia, I offer a few remarks relative thereto, 
but which are chiefly intended for those amateurs who grow them 
somewhat extensively. It is a plant of easy cultivation, and by 
attending to a few particular points in the management, perfec¬ 
tion in blooming will be more readily obtained. 
Why success does not always result, is because artificially our 
treatment is incoherent in some measure to the nature of the 
plants themselves. 
If we starve growing plants at one time, and superabundantly 
supply them with food at another, we cannot expect but that 
imperfect blooms will be the consequence. So that our object 
should be to secure those advantages wherewith our treatment 
subsequently may be in uniformity to the wants of nature. 
The variations of this climate are ofttimes the sole cause of 
disappointment; thus it is for us to make provisions in a certain 
degree to prevent any such failure. After dahlias are planted 
out, if perfect blooms are the object, they should receive no check 
from the soil becoming too arid, but should be kept moderately 
growing by being supplied with an abundance of water in dry 
weather ; herein in my opinion much of the success depends, 
and the operation may be greatly facilitated if the planting be 
