192 BULBS AND TUBEROUS-ROOTED PLANTS, 
satisfactory prices. As Christmas is one of the best sea- 
sons for the sale of these flowers, it is an object to get 
them in at that time, and the small bulbs are the only 
ones that can be depended upon to furnish them. 
When the bulbs are shipped from Bermuda, they 
are in separate grades, as from three to five, and up to 
from nine to twelve inches in circumference. Lach of 
these grades should be made into two classes, the larger 
and smaller to be potted separately ; for instance, those 
between four and five inches should be put in six inch 
pots, those from three to four inches will do well in five 
inch pots. The larger sizes will require large pots, but, 
except for large plants for exhibition or decorative pur- 
poses, an eight inch pot is sufficiently large for any of 
the bulbs. There is a peculiarity about this bulb not 
common to any other. Hach seems to have a time of its 
own to develop its flowers. In bringing forward a hun- 
dred pots, where the bulbs were carefully selected as to 
size, and all given the same treatment, there will be a 
marked difference in their time of coming into flower. 
For this reason, the practice of growing them in boxes 
or planting them out on the benches, was abandoned, 
there being a great loss in room to await the flowering 
of the late ones, after the main crop had been cut. 
When planted singly, in pots, they can be removed as 
soon as the stems are cut, and their places filled by others 
to keep up a succession. 
In potting, soils of various character are used, not as 
a matter of choice, but of necessity; the location of the 
florist must decide that matter, as he is limited in his 
choice. However, they will succeed in any good potting 
soil, all other conditions being favorable. In potting, 
do not press the bulb down so as to have the soil beneath 
it hard, as the roots will not penetrate it freely, and do 
not have the bulb more than half an inch below the rim 
of the pot. Plunge the pots in coal ashes in a cold 
