186 PRACTICAL FLORICULTURE. 



By the first method, the bulbs are, about the 1st of Jan- 

 uary, placed closely together in boxes three inches deep, 

 having two inches or so of damp moss in the bottom. 

 These boxes are placed in some warm spot, where the 

 temperature will average seventy-five degrees. If for 

 greenhouse culture, the best place is under the benches 

 on the hot-water pipes. In about four or five weeks the 

 Tuberoses will have rooted all through the moss, and 

 they should then be potted in four or five-inch pots, or 

 planted in a bench of soil four or five inches deep, and 

 kept in a temperature at no time less than seventy-five 

 degrees, and flowers will be had in abundance in April. 

 For succession crops, place the dry bulbs in moss, at 

 intervals of three or four weeks. The last crops will 

 usually be the best, as by May and June the natural tem- 

 perature will have increased, and less artificial heat will 

 be required. 



If flowers are wanted during November and December, 

 the retarding process alluded to is resorted to. This is 

 done by selecting such bulbs as are wanted (care being 

 taken to use only such as are sound and firm), and plac- 

 ing them in some cool, dry place until the middle of 

 August, when the first crop may be planted, either in 

 pots or in a bench of the greenhouse, as described above 

 for the spring crop. This planting will produce a crop 

 by November. For the succession crop of December, 

 planting must be delayed until the middle of September, 

 this being as late as the bulbs can be kept sound in the 

 usual way ; but they may be retarded in refrigerators or 

 in the cities in cold-storage vaults, as is done with 

 Lily of the Valley, and in that way may be had all 

 through the winter months, provided a high enough 

 temperature, with plenty of light, can be given. The 

 same high temperature is indispensable as in the spring 

 crop, namely, an average of seventy-five degrees. The 

 variety best for forcing is the Pearl, which grows only 



