The medium and small pompons should be accorded similar treatment to that given to the small decorative and cactus, that is only the weak growths are removed when grown on rich soils, reducing a little more severely on poor soil. The small pompons require very little thinning unless the soil is particularly poor.

Hence to obtain early blooms in fair numbers it is usual to stop the main stems, fairly early in the plant’s life, by removing the growing point; this has the effect of concentrating the full flow of sap into the lateral branches which grow at an accelerated rate.

Bedding varieties, quite naturally, are grown unrestricted. It must he pointed out, that although the foregoing has been in the main given for the benefit of the exhibitor, the same principles may be applied when dahlias are grown for garden decoration alone.

This is particularly so with the giant varieties, because, after all, there is little point in growing these varieties unless the blooms are big; if smaller blooms are required then varieties which naturally produce bloom of lesser size should be grown. For garden decoration it is not necessary to restrict to the same degree.

It is useless to attempt to stop a very small, weak plant, for instance, and inadvisable to stop a very recently planted dahlia as this will require its full energy to be devoted to producing root growth.

Therefore the plants are normally stopped when they have produced from four to six pairs of good strong leaves or when the plant has reached a height of approximately to to 12 in.; this does not preclude stopping very forward plants whilst still in the frame, particularly when these have been grown in very large pots, or directly in the soil in the frame. This practice is a common one in the more northernly countries.