4o6 



Junior Naturalist Monthly. 



drain away but stands in puddles for 

 days. 



That gives bulbs wet feet and they 

 do not grow well. 



When Teddy has finished digging 

 the pit, he will put several loads of 

 stone in the bottom so that water may 

 drain away. 



If the soil were sand or gravel or 

 loam, there would be no need for put- 

 ting stone in the bottom of the pit. 



The pit has been dug and the stones 

 put in the bottom and some rotted 

 leaves spaded into the fertile clay soil, 

 to make it more porous. 



The bed has been mounded up so 

 that the surface w'ater will drain off. 



Teddy is now- raking the soil fine 

 before planting his tulips. 



After the bulbs are properly put in 

 the ground, the planting need not be 

 done over again for three or four 

 years. Even then no new bulbs need 

 be bought. 



In the end, most flowering bulbs are 

 the cheapest flowers that we can have. 



Now Teddy is planting tulips and 

 thinking what gorgeous flowers he will 

 have the next spring and how little 

 work he will have to do. 



But few weeds wdll grow after he 

 plants in October and none next spring 

 wdien the tulips bloom in May. 



He is planting them about four 

 inches deep and five inches apart. 

 About Thanksgiving time or a little 

 later, when the frosts make a frozen 

 crust of eardi, he will cover the bed. 

 with a thick blanket of stable fertilizer. 



If instead he uses dead leaves, he 

 will put sticks or boards over them so 

 they will not blow away. 



