CHAPTER XXIX 



FIRST WEEK IN AUGUST 



THE catalogues of winter- flowering bulbs, which are 

 now coming in, are very tempting, and for Christmas 

 blooms we must lose no time in ordering. It is a 

 great mistake to put off getting one's bulbs till October (or 

 even November), and to think that a little extra warmth in 

 the hot-water pipes between that time and Christmas will 

 make up for our delay. Bulbs kept out of soil soon lose 

 their vitality, besides which, the best forcing for early work 

 is done by the sunshine of September in the open air, and 

 without this healthy action of the roots it is useless to expect 

 good blooms from the bulbs. 



Roman hyacinths, paper-white, and double Roman nar- 

 cissus, sky-blue scillas, Van Thol tulips, and bulbs of the 

 Chinese joss-flower (Narcissus tazzetta) should now be 

 put in for the earliest work, quickly followed by the 

 larger hyacinths ; plenty of dwarf early tulips, both single 

 and double ; daffodils, in variety ; and a number of other 

 fascinating bulbs, such as the early irises, freesias, ixias, &c., 

 not forgetting the Bermuda lily (Lilium Harrisi), which 

 is most valuable at Christmas-time. But so many of these 

 last bulbs are injured, if not destroyed, by the removal 

 of their lower roots (probably for convenience in packing 

 for export), that no one should purchase them without the 

 proviso that the roots must be intact, as the bulbs are 

 almost useless for at least a year without them. 



Button's Harbinger, the gay little tulip which decorates 

 the table at Christmas, the various Van Thols in scarlet and 

 yellow, white, rose, &c., and Tulipa Greigi, with large 



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