118 THE ELOBAL WOBLD AND GAEDEN GUIDE. 



taking up the bulbg, many will be found to have offshoots attached 

 to them. Let them remain and store them all as they are, throwing 

 out entirely any that are quite or partially rotten. In any number 

 of bulbs flowered in water, a few are sure to perish in this way. 



Let us next suppose a nice lot of pot bulbs that have been forced 

 in the pit or greenhouse, and used iu various ways for decorative 

 purposes. These will not require so much care as those flowered in 

 glasses, for they will be less debilitated, and if they have not been 

 too long in the drawing-room, their leaves and spikes will be short 

 and manageable. The best way to deal with these is the same as- 

 described above for the bulbs that have been in water. If this 

 process is inconvenient, the cultivator may be content to stand the 

 pots on a bed of rotten dung, or some rich potting compost in a 

 frame, to give them the chance of rooting through into it. He must 

 give plenty of water — abundance of water. If, by any chance, 

 he keeps them dry, or gives them only one dose and adone 

 with it, the bulbs will be small and light • but with plenty of food 

 and shelter in a frame from the moment the flowers are past, the 

 bulbs will be large and heavy. Some people pitch their potted 

 bulbs about like so much rubbish the moment the bloom is past, and 

 then upon such wretched experience pronounce an ipse dixit against 

 keeping bulbs at all. But just notice how unreasonable it is to 

 expose a plant to cold and drought that has been up to a certain 

 moment kept in a warm, moist atmosphere, and had abundance of 

 water. It is because such bulbs as we are now considering have 

 been grown in a comfortable temperature that I advocate framing 

 them, for at this season of the year it is outrageous to expose to 

 east winds and frosts, plants of such delicate organization, and that 

 have had such scrupulous care to flower them in perfection. Shelter,, 

 moisture, food — these are the requisites to fit them for further use. 

 If they were originally potted in very rich soil, they may do with 

 water and shelter only to the end of their growth, but I am quite 

 certain that it is better practice to give them more food than they 

 can obtain in the pots, and therefore I advocate either turning them 

 out, as in the first practice, or allowing them to root through into 

 something good, as in the second. 



Let us next consider the bulbs that have been flowered in frames. 

 My stock of frame bulbs is just now coming to its prime, and my 

 first lot of forced bulbs are just worn-out, and a3 the last lot come 

 out of frames to do duty, the first lot are put in their places. As- 

 inine are potted in very rich soil — half rotten dung and half turfy 

 hazel loam, with sharp grit added — I shall not turn any of them 

 out, but require them to finish their growth in pots as they are. 

 By the time the frame bulbs are out of bloom we shall be in the 

 middle of April. The bulbs not having been forced, and the season 

 being advanced when their bloom is over, renders it unnecessary 

 to frame them. It is ivith the unforced bulbs grown in pots that 

 I have had the best success in keeping and increasing stock, and I can 

 tell you in a few words the routine pursued. A bed is made up by 

 placing some stout planks on edge, and fixing them with stout pegs. 

 The space so inclosed is filled to a depth of nine inches with a 



