This section is from the book "Commercial Gardening Vol2", by John Weathers (the Editor). Also available from Amazon: Commercial Gardening, A Practical & Scientific Treatise For Market Gardeners.
The cultivation of this plant for profit is necessarily quite apart from the ordinary routine growing. The various cultivators can be divided into three sections: the raisers of new varieties, the wholesale growers, and the retail nurserymen. These sections are fairly distinct, though a few combine all three to a certain extent. Then we have the men who grow only to supply our large public markets such as Covent Garden; these growers usually cultivate for cut flowers in the autumn months. It will therefore be seen that the Dahlia forms no mean subject from a commercial point of view. The business of raising new varieties is practically confined to a few men, who devote much care, time, and land with this object in view, and, needless to add, it must show a fair amount of profit, even if they only raise six or eight new varieties annually, for good prices are obtained for them. At the same time, this section of profitable culture would not commend itself to the bulk of growers.
 
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