PERMANENT PLANTING OF HARDY BULBS. 



^ r^H ERE are many beautiful 

 hardy bulbs that will take care 

 ,_1 of themselves in the border, 

 and no flower garden can af- 

 ford to be without them. Perhaps one 

 of the showiest is Tulipa sylvestris, a 

 group of which makes, in it: clear bright 

 yellow flowers, one of the prettiest dis- 

 plays imaginable, in April and May. 

 The leaves are narrow and prettier than 

 those of the kinds usually planted for 

 temporary effects ; the flowers are quite 

 fragrant. There are a number of others 

 that would doubtless do as well and be 

 equally as interesting. 



Many of the Narcissus thrive undis- 

 turbed ; but one that has given the 

 writer considerable pleasure N. biflorus, 

 a pure white hybrid, blooming in May. 

 As the name implies, two flowers are 

 usually borne on one stem. It is deli- 

 ciously fragrant, and very much like 

 one of its supposed parents, A^. poeticus. 



Although by no means as showy as 

 those already mentioned, Leucojum eesti- 

 viini should perhaps be ranked as next 

 in attractiveness. The individual flow- 

 ers are small, bell-shaped, opening two 

 or three at a time on one rather tall 

 stem, and gracefully drooping ; the color 

 is of a good white, greenish at the base 

 on the outside. They are excellent for 

 cutting, lasting well and opening buds. 



Blooming in late spring, the'y complete 

 a nice succession. 



The well-known snowdrop is one that 

 cannot be dispensed with 'Galanthus 

 Elwesii is said to be the best, though 

 the writer's experience has been con- 

 fined to the common species, G. nivalis. 

 This frequently blooms in Philadelphia, 

 before the close of winter, a few days of 

 warm sunshine bringing out the tiny 

 flowers, which droop modestly as though 

 abashed at their early appearance. The 

 last snowfall sometimes catches them, 

 but without doing serious injury. This, 

 with the Leucojum and well-known cro- 

 cus, is all the better for being undis- 

 turbed for four or five years, — or until 

 the increase makes them crowded. 

 Planted 3 inches apart, and about 4 

 inches beneath the surface in deep, well- 

 drained and enriched soil they will give 

 greatest satisfaction. 



While September and October are 

 usually the best months for planting 

 hardy bulbs, do not omit them because 

 it is getting late and November is at 

 hand. As long as the soil can be 

 worked, they will generally do well, — in 

 fact they have been occasionally placed 

 in holes made in frozen ground. But 

 this method is by no means to be ad- 

 vised. If the soil is heavy, a little sand 

 should be placed under each bulb. — 

 Meehan's Monthly. 



DON'T MARKET 

 There is one of the most important 

 truths in the science of marketing in a 

 nutshell. It is not only the " little cull 

 peaches," but the little cull strawberry, 

 the little cull cucumber, the little cull 

 tomato, the cull cauliflower, the little 

 cull of any and all vegetables and fruits 

 that break down prices and destroy the 

 markets. The worst thing about market- 



426 



THE CULLS. 



ing culls is that they destroy the de- 

 mand. After a family has had, say, a 

 bushel of cull tomatoes, they don't want 

 any more soon, if at all ; whereas if the 

 fruit had been first-class, it would not only 

 have received a much higher price in the 

 first place, but would have made a market 

 at once for more ; and so on through 

 the entire list of vegetables and fruits. 



