KUNZMAN, NEW ALBANY, INDIANA 
1 
HOW TO GROW DAHLIAS 
Dahiias do well in any well drained fertile garden 
soil in an open, sunny location, and are as easy to grow 
as potatoes. 
Before planting spade the ground well to loosen the 
soil thoroughly to a depth of six to eight inches. When 
soil is warm and danger of frost is past, dig holes five or 
six inches deep, two to three feet apart, in rows three to 
four feet apart. 
/ 
Lay tuber on its side—never on end—with eye up¬ 
ward, and cover with good dirt in which is mixed a little 
wood ashes if possible. Sprout should show within three 
weeks. If at the end of that time no sprout is visible, 
return to us and we will replace the tuber. 
After plant is up, remove all but one sprout. When 
this has grown to be twelve to fifteen inches high, pinch 
out the top to encouragee lower branching and make it 
unnecessary to stake plant. 
When buds show, remove all but one bud on a stem, 
removing shoots and leaves at base of bud to give a 
better stem. Allow five or six blooming stems to a 
plant, but keep all dead flowers trimmed off. 
DAHLIA DON’TS 
DON’T work the soil until it is dry enough to pulverize. 
DON’T be afraid to work it deep and fine. 
DON’T plant before soil is warm. 
DON’T water when planting, or later, unless absolutely 
necessary. 
DON’T let the soil harden; keep it worked. 
DON’T let more than one sprout grow. 
DON’T allow the old bloom to remain on plants. 
DON’T fail to BOOST the dahlia; and— 
DON’T buy from anyone just because they are cheap, 
because you 
DON’T know what you are getting! Finally, 
DON’T FORGET TO READ EVERYTHING IN THIS 
CATALOG. 
Don’t condemn a dahlia root because it is small. 
Actual experience has shown us that the larger roots do 
not keep as well and do not produce as good plants as 
the smaller, vigorous roots. We quote from Waite s 
Modern Dahlia Culture, price $1.50: “Before planting 
a root, always cut off about one-third of it. Ihis will 
usually result in a better plant. The old root is only 
needed to sustain the young plant until the new shoot 
has sent out roots of its own (the feeding roots), ant. 
if the root that is planted is very large and whole, new 
roots seem to take longer to form, and sometimes do 
not form at all. In such cases it seems that the root 
says: “What is the use of me sending out roots when 
I can get all the food I need without doing so? Many 
large roots are hollow in the center, and sometimes may 
rot even before the shoot develops; they are also some¬ 
times very woody and consequently devoid of sap. 
