As the buds appear, add to the dressing one teaspoonful of Blood 
meal per plant. Use blood meal sparingly, for it has very much 
nitrogen and you might weaken the bush by too rapid growth. 
Also it devitalizes your roots for the next year’s planting. If your 
soil needs humus, you might add a very heavy dressing of steer 
manure after you dig your roots in the fall. 
CUTTING FLOWERS—Cut blooms late in the afternoon. Take off 
foliage you desire and plunge it: into cool water. Leave the flowers 
out in the open all night, being careful that the morning sun will 
not hit them. If you will use Bloomlife, the flowers will last days 
longer. If you can’t get it locally, we can supply you. A good trick 
is to cut your blooms almost to length and then plunge your knife 
and end of stem into water and make the final cut under water. 
Your bloom is now ready for the container. 
HARVESTING ROOTS—Do not dig until the entire plant is dead 
and brown. Cut off the stalks about 4 inches high and remove 
stake. Plunge a spade straight down all around the plant about 8 
inches from the stalk. Gently lift out the ball with two spades and 
break off as much soil as possible. Use a hose to wash off the 
remaining soil. Cut off all hair roots and all but 2 inches of the 
stalk. Do not strain the necks of the roots. Locate the “eyes” 
next to the stalk and separate the clump. If “eyes” are difficult to 
find, allow clumps to sprout in the spring before dividing. With 
an indelible pencil, mark each wet root so that you can later iden- 
tify it. Dip cut ends in sulphur and store in deep sand. Do not dry 
your roots in the sun. 
PESTS AND DISEASE 
PESTS—Every week, dust with a mixture of 5% DDT and sul- 
phur. This will control nearly everything except aphis and these 
can be controlled by a nicotine spray and ant poison. It is not 
advisable to use an oil spray after dusting with sulphur. Watch 
for cutworms. They hide just under the soil during the day and 
at night they come out and cause their exasperating damage. 
Build a 6 inch barrier of tar paper around the plant. 
MILDEW—Mildew is one of the most serious diseases a dahlia can 
have and the easiest to control. Injury to the plant is due to ex- 
clusion of light, excessive loss of water from infected leaves, and 
excessive respiration, which may reach 650% that of normal plants, 
burning up the carbohydrates that should be used for growth and 
flower formation. Fermate or sulphur dust will control this disease 
very well. Dust under the leaves also. 
GREENHOUSE THRIPS. Late in the summer watch for the green- 
house thrips. This small, sluggish insect attacks the under side of 
the leaves beginning with the lower ones. These leaves soon die, 
leaving an unsightly plant, or as someone said, “a plant without 
any pants.” This naturally cuts down on the food manufacturing 
(photosynthesis) area of the plant and the result is weak plants 
the next year. DDT dust or spray will control. 
ert F Rice 
