184 DUTCH BULBS. 



press the earth around the bulb, and settle all by a good 

 watering. Then set the pots away in a warm, dark place, 

 keeping the soil moderately damp until the pot is filled 

 with roots, which may be ascertained by turning out the 

 plant, as directed in a previous chapter. Then bring the 

 plant . to the light. The shoot will probably be an inch 

 high, and pure white, but in a few days it will become 

 green, and grow with great rapidity ; the flower spike will 

 soon show, and with plenty of light and heat, a few weeks 

 will suffice to give a fine display of bloom. 



Offsets should be removed as soon as they appear, by 

 running the thumb nail down the side of the bulb, and 

 pressing them off; if large enough to flower, or of fine 

 varieties, they should be set in small pots, where they will 

 soon make roots, and in time form fine blooming bulbs. 



Water very liberally after the bulbs are brought to the 

 light. 



As soon as the flowers fade, and the tips of the leaves 

 begin to turn yellow, water should be gradually withheld, 

 and the bulbs thus dried off. When dry, the earth should 

 be carefully shaken off 1 , and the dry bulb put away for the 

 next autumn's planting. 



This is, however, seldom done, the bulbs being so cheap 



