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GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



DUTCH BULB-GROWING FOR WORLD'S 

 MARKETS 



'X'HE bulb-growing dates back to the end of the six- 

 teenth century, when the first TuHps and Hyacinths 

 were imported from the East. The Tuhp was at first the 

 object of wild speculation, which finally culminated in the 

 ^reat Tulip swindle between the years 1634-1637, by 

 which many people were ruined. Somewhat later a regu- 

 lar development of the bulb-growing took place, which 

 was extended very much, especially during the last cen- 

 tury. 



In the Spring, usually about Easter, when the bulbs 

 are in flower, the country presents a magnificent spectacle, 

 and a stranger visiting Holland at this time of the year 

 will not neglect to see the bulb-fields with their glorious 

 mixture of colors. In these fields the Crocuses are first 

 in flower, followed by the Dafl^odils with their prevailing 

 yellow color; afterwards the Hyacinths with their sharp, 

 strong colors, and later the Tulips with their fine, soft 

 colors. But this flower galaxy does not remain for long, 

 because the nurserymen soon pluck ofif the flowers with 

 a very small bit of their stems, so that all the strength 

 goes to the bulb. It is the bulb which represents the trade 

 value and not the flowers. These plucked-off flowers 

 which, through their short stems, are of no value, are 

 thrown away into the ditches or sold by children along 

 the roads and in the cities. Later on in the Summer 

 several fields are to be seen covered with the flowers of 

 the tuberous Begonias, etc.. and in the Autumn the 

 gladioli make a beautiful show ; but all this glory is very 

 little in comparison with that which was to be seen in 

 Spring. 



The bulb nurseries are composed of large fields, en- 

 closed by ditches or canals and divided into a number of 

 smaller plots by beech hedges. Every small plot on its 

 'Own is divided up by one or two main paths into several 

 beds on which the bulbs are to be planted. Very inter- 

 esting and striking are the large buildings in the nurseries, 

 name'd "bulb-houses," suitaWe for drying, keeping, and 

 packing bulbs. These houses consist of two or three floors. 

 Inside are the stands, consisting of a great number of 

 tables on which the bulbs are dried, and between which, 

 by opening the glass doors, the air has free entrance from 

 all sides. Lastly, houses for forcing bulbs and cultivating 

 Amaryllis, Callas, etc., are frequent in the nurseries. Two 

 groups of bulb-growers are recognized, the translation of 

 the Dutch names being the "exporters" and the "grow- 

 ers." Both groups cultivate bulbs, but the latter are small 

 bulb-growers who sell their crop to the former— the big- 

 ger bull>growers — who, with their own cultivated bulbs. 

 send them all over the world. 



Here follows a very rough and, on popular hnes. short 

 survey of the cultivation and propagation of the bulbs. 

 We commence in September, the time of planting the 

 bulbs on the beds which were prepared a long time ago. 

 The cultivation requires changing the ground every year, 

 so that a field being planted one year with, let us say. 

 Hyacinths, then Tulips or Dafl:'odils, the third year fallow 

 land, or is planted with some vegetables. So there is 

 always land that can be dug up and dunged a considerable 

 time before. After planting the bulbs in lines on the 

 beds they will be covered for the Winter with reed or 

 sometime turf dust against frost as well as blowing away 

 of the sandy soil. At the end of January this cover will 

 he partially'removed. being taken wholly away in March. 

 In the flower time, in the month of ApvW. looking after 

 sick bulbs requires much time. The bulbs may be suffer- 

 ing from several diseases showing on the leaves as well 

 as "on the bulbs, and the sick bulbs have to be taken away 

 verv carefully to prevent infection of the others. Except 

 acme diseases, hares, rabbits, mice and crows are the 



cause of much loss to the bulb-growers. In the middle 

 of June, after the withering of the foliage, a start is made 

 with the digging up of the bulbs, and after cleaning them 

 from soil they are brought up to the bulb-houses. After 

 being dried in the bulb-hduses on the stands, the cleaning, 

 peeling of the young bulbs, and sorting into different 

 qualities is mostly done by women and children, who 

 are allowed by the law to take special holidays from 

 school in this part of the country for working in the 

 sheds. 



Besides the natural propagation of the bulbs by seeds 

 and young bulbs produced round the old one, the bulb- 

 growers apply two artificial methods — the cutting and the 

 hollowing — directly performed after the digging up. 

 With a sharp knife several deep cross-cuts are made in 

 the base of the bulb (the cutting) or the whole b&se is 

 taken out with a knife of .special shape (the hollowing), 

 and the wound done over with a little lime. The bulbs 

 operated on in this manner will be put for some time on 

 the stands and planted out in September. The large 

 number of bulbs which develops on these cut or hollowed 

 bulbs have to be taken oft' the following year, and they are 

 full-grown after three to five years. — Irish Garden- 

 ing,. 



LIVING CHRISTMAS TREES 



A S we approach the festive season when "Peace on 

 •^^ earth and good will to men" is the all prevailing spirit 

 that permeates the family life of this great country of 

 ours — living Christmas trees will add a touch of real 

 life to this Christmas spirit. It is only too true that 

 living Christmas trees have not become as popular as 

 they might be, but they are far superior to the cut tree 

 which is thrown away when it has served its purpose, a 

 mere relic of recent festivity. Living trees are now ob- 

 tainable from many nurserymen and florists, at prices well 

 within the reach of most pocketbooks, and after they have 

 served their purposes during the holiday they may be 

 planted outdoors and become a permanent feature of the 

 home grounds. As the years go by, each adding a tree 

 to the grounds, a new interest will be created, not to 

 mention the sentiment and pleasant recollections sur- 

 rounding each one. 



Living Christmas trees are coming, and it may be of 

 necessity, if we are to have Christmas trees at all. One 

 may read in the newspapers almost every day at this 

 season of carloads upon carloads of trees arriving in our 

 large cities to be sold for Christmas, trees, and there is 

 no doubt that the cutting down of large numbers of young 

 trees every year is making serious inroads into the future 

 lumber supply of the nation. It is claimed by those whose 

 business it is to make up the statistics relative to the 

 nation's lumber resources that two-fifths of the total sup- 

 ply has been consumed, and that not more than 40 years' 

 supplv remain in the western reserves, where the present 

 suppl'v is being drawn from. In fact the impending 

 shortage is such that one of our largest railroads is 

 already importing its requirements. 



Serious consideration is being given by the governors 

 of lumber producing states to reforestation of the prin- 

 cipal sources of supply. 



There is, of course, a more or less constant supply of 

 material available every year for use as Christmas trees 

 from "thinning" out the'forests, in order to give better 

 opportunity to more vigorous trees, but, unfortunately, 

 the cutting down of this surplus material is not always 

 (lone withproper supervision, and thousands of trees that 

 would eventually add to the nation's wealth are improvi- 

 dentlv cut down. 



