Y2 



were formed in tlie year it grew (last year) ; but the better tlie 

 treatment, the larger and finer the flowers will be. 



If I wanted to make a bulb bed, T should choose, if possible, a 

 sandy soil and throw out the top soil to the depth of six inches. 

 Then I should put into the bottom of the bed about two inches of 

 well-rotted manure and spade it into the soil. Then I should throw 

 back half of the top soil, level it off nicely, set the bulbs firmly on 

 this bed and then cover them with the balance of the soil ; in this 

 way you will have the bulbs from three to four inches below the 

 surface. It is dark down there and in the fall months the top of 

 the ground is cooler than at the deptli of five or six inches and the 

 top of the bulb will not want to grow, while the bottom which is 

 always in a hurry will send out roots, to push out the leaves and 

 flowers the next spring. 



When the weather is cold enough to freeze a hard crust on the soil, 

 the bed should have its winter overcoat. This may be straw, hay, 

 cornstalks or leaves spread over the bed to the depth of six inches 

 if the material is coarse ; but if you use leaves, three inches will be 

 enough, because the leaves lay close together and may smother out 

 the frost that is in the ground and let the bulbs start. What we 

 want is to keep them asleep until spring, because if they start too 

 early the hard freezes of March and early April will spoil their 

 beauty if the leaves or flowers are near or above the surface. Early 

 in April the covering may be removed gradually and should all be 

 off the beds before the leaves show above the ground. 



Perhaps many of you cannot find a sandy place for your beds ; if 

 not, make your beds as has been told you, leaving the stones in the 

 bottom of the bed for drainage. Then, when you are readj^ to set 

 the bulb place a large handful of sand where your bulb is to go and 

 set your bulb on it ; this will keep the water from standing around the 

 bulb. Yery fine results may be had on heavy soil by this method. 



What kind of bulbs shall we put into these beds ? Select hyacinths, 

 tulips or narcissus or daffodils, with snowdrops or crocuses of various 

 colors around the edge. 



If you use hyacinths you can have the national colors, red, white 

 and blue, or many shades of either color, as shown in the diagrams 



464 



