BULBS FOR THE GARDEN. 



tive plants, set to keep on growing in an 

 attractive receptacle, no matter how 

 simple and inexpensive it be (in fact the 



more so the better), would sell on. sight 

 in any shop window. — American Gar- 

 dening. 



BULBS FOR THE GARDEN 



NE of the most eminent au- 

 thorities on floriculture, Mr. 

 Peter Barr, has recently been 

 visiting Canada and the Unit- 

 ed States. He is an enthusiast in bulb 

 culture, especially Narcissi, and he has 

 travelled far and wide, in search of 

 novelties. 



Interviewed by American Gardening, 

 he said : — 



All spring flowering and bulbous 

 plants should be placed facing the north 

 and in a cool bottom ; Daffodils, Tu- 

 lips, Hyacinths, Chionodoxae, and 

 the whole tribe will be both lasting and 

 beautiful and go on from year to year if 

 these conditions are attended to, name- 

 ly, a cool bottom and facing the north. 

 Bulbous plants should be left where 

 they are and not removed annually and 

 not be manured under any circum- 

 stances. Every bulb that grows in Eu- 

 rope may be grown in the United States, 

 and in many cases bulbs that cannot be 

 grown in Europe can be grown in the 

 United States. I believe myself that 

 all the Cape bulbs could be grown well 

 out of doors. Lilium candidum and 

 Lilium chalcedonicum and many other 

 Lilies do better when they are grown in 

 tightly over-grown masses. According 

 to experiments made by Dewar at Kew, 

 it was found that Lilium candidum did 

 best when the bulb was partially ex- 

 posed. In a country where the frost 

 penetrates so deeply and so suddenly, I 

 do not see the advantage of deeply cov- 

 ering the bulbs. The rule for planting 

 bulbs is three times their own depth, 

 that is to say, if a bulb is one inch from 



top to base, it should have its base three 

 inches below the surface. Crinum has 

 a bulb of about one foot and more in 

 length and may safely be planted at a 

 depth of eighteen inches. A Dutch- 

 man will usually plant his bulbs, mea- 

 suring by the depth of his hand placed 

 side-ways on the ground. The Japan 

 Irises should be placed on a bank with 

 underflow of water as from a spring. 

 In such situations they do simply mag- 

 nificently, but they want plenty of drink 

 and should not be in stagnant water. 

 And the same conditions will prove 

 satisfactory for almost all alpine plants. 

 All the Primulas will take the same con- 

 ditions. Given that condition the Eng- 

 lish Primrose would flourish as well here 

 as in its native place. It suffers in this 

 country from being dried up in the sum- 

 mer. It does not matter how much sun 

 plays upon it so long as it has water 

 feeding it below. 



AN OUTLET FOR GRAPES. 



When at Cornell, I was asked what 

 the chances were of sending grapes to 

 England. I replied, " If you can de- 

 liver them in condition, the sale will be 

 immense for the street trade. The only 

 question is how to send them over." 

 Since I left Cornell, the subject has 

 occupied my thoughts considerably and 

 I have come to the conclusion that 

 grapes put up in wooden boxes that can 

 be retailed at 12c., i8c. and 36c. would 

 have a large sale if handled by agents 

 who understand the mode of distribu- 

 tion for that class of trade. The mar- 

 kets would be London, Liverf)ooI and 



109 



