436 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



each bulb with the fingers, and level the sur- 

 face. When the bulbs are planted, the soil 

 should only come to about half an inch of 

 the top of the pot, so when watering there 

 will be room for a good supply. 



ROOTING. 



The proper rooting of the bulbs is, per- 

 haps, the most important feature in the 

 successful culture of them. The recom- 

 mendation is frequently made to give the 

 bulbs a thorough watering at the time they 

 are planted, keep them in the cellar or some 

 cool place for six or eight weeks, and then 

 begin to force them. This advice, without 

 more explicit directions, has been the means 

 of spoiling thousands of fine blooms. There 

 are hundreds of people who have no place to 

 put their pots, while the bulbs are root- 

 ing, except the coolest part of their cellar, 

 in which is a furnace, which keeps the ;iir 

 as dry almost as upstairs ; and even a cool 

 closet is sometimes the best place that can 

 be found. The result is that the amateur 

 who has had no previous experience, 

 or who has not learned the cause of previous 

 failures, gives his bulbs a thorough water- 

 ing, as recommended, thinks all will be 

 well, and he is led to believe this by seeing 

 the shoots pushmg up. When he tries to 

 force his bulbs, he finds that something has 

 gone wrong, but he does not know what it 

 is. What has really happened? The air 

 of the cellar being dry, the soil in the pots 

 has gradually dried up, so that by the end 

 of a couple of weeks, or perhaps more, it is 

 apparently quite dry and not suitable for the 

 developement of roots, and they do not de- 

 velop, and perhaps some roots which had 

 started have dried up again. One water- 

 ing is sufficient where pots can be kept in a 

 cool, moist place, but they should be water- 

 ed once a week, and if necessary, oftener, 

 if they are kept in a dry cellar. The soil 

 should not be kept soaked at first, as bulbs, 

 when in the dormant condition, are likely to 

 rot if kept too wet. The soil should be 



kept moist, not wet. If through careless 

 planting the bulbs push up when thev begin 

 to root, the best plan is to repot them, 

 rather than attempt to push back the bulb 

 into its place. When rooting, the bulbs 

 should be kept in a dark place, between 35 

 and 40 degrees F., if possible, and if they 

 cannot be kept as cool as that, the lower 

 they are kept above this the better. If kept 

 in a high temperature, growth begins 

 above before there is a good root develop- 

 ment, and this is something that should be 

 avoided, if at all possible. Furthermore, 

 unless kept very cool, the bulbs will make 

 too much growth, it will not be possible 

 to keep them back, and the bloom will be 

 over before the end of the winter. 



VARIETIES RECOMMENDED. 



The following varieties are recommended : 

 Early spring tulips, for the house, 



Chrysolora, height 11 inches, golden 

 yellow ; Keizerskroon, 14 inches, crimson- 

 scarlet, with broad yellow margin; Joost 

 Van Vondel, 10 inches, crimson, flaked with 

 white, large flowers ; Joost Van Vondel, 

 (White) 10 inches, pure white, large flow- 

 ers ; Proserpine, 12 inches, rich rosy car- 

 mine ; Vermillion Brilliant, 10 inches, 

 bright Vermillion ; La Reine, white, be- 

 coming delicate pink ; Cottage Maid, 9 

 inches, white, bordered with rosy pink ; 

 Duchesse de Parma, 13 inches, orange-red, 

 with broad yellow edge ; Thomas Moore, 

 14 inches, orange, sweet scented ; Van der 

 Neer, 10 inches, violet ; Standard Silver, 

 10 inches, white, feathered with crimson. 



Early Doubles.— Couronne d'Or, orange- 

 yellow ; Murillo, blush-pink ; Imperator 

 Rubrorum, crimson-scarlet. 



Hyacinths, Single Pink.— Charles Dick- 

 ens, rosy-pink ; Baron Von Thuyll, fine 

 pink ; Gigantea, blush-pink, large spikes. 



Single Red.— General Pelissier, deep 

 crimson, early ; Lord Macauley, rose, with 

 carmine stripes. 



