2732 



POLIANTHES 



POLIANTHES 



country, and a good part of them are used here as well 

 as exported. The tuberose is more popular than ever 

 in Europe. It will always be a standard florists' flower, 

 for the people like it, whatever fashion may decree. 



For the home garden, the bulbs are best procured in 

 spring and planted outdoors after all danger of frost 

 is over. The common tall-growing double sort is pre- 

 ferred for this purpose, largely because the fls. open 

 better during the unfavorable dry weather which often 

 occurs in October. Cover the bulb about an inch 

 with fine light soil. A bulb planted out 

 June 1 will bloom in late summer or fall. 

 Before frost comes, take up the bulbs 

 and store them over winter in a rather 

 warm (50 F.) dry place where no frost 

 will touch them. If kept moist and cool 

 during winter the bulbs are likely to rot 

 at the center. Sound tubers will always 

 be green at top or show some sign of life 

 at the growing-point. The others are 

 not worth planting. In the far North 

 where the season is short, tuberose bulbs 

 may be started indoors about the middle 

 of May, the tubers being placed on a 

 layer of damp moss. 



By florists, tuberoses are chiefly grown 

 for summer and fall bloom. It is very 

 difficult to force tuberoses so as to bloom 

 from January to March, but they can be 

 forced with comparative ease to bloom 

 from April to 

 June. Also flow- 

 ers may readily 

 be secured for 

 November and 

 December by re- 

 tarding the bulbs. 

 In forcing, the 

 bulbs are started 

 about the first of 

 January, being 

 placed close to- 

 gether in boxes 

 only 3 inches deep, 

 with 2 inches or 

 so of moss on the 

 bottom. These 

 boxes are placed 

 over the pipe 

 where a tempera- 

 ture of 75 may 

 be maintained. In 

 four to five weeks the tubers will have sent roots all 

 through the moss, and they should then be potted in 

 4- to 5-inch pots, or planted in a bench containing 4 

 or 5 inches of soil. The temperature should never be 

 less than 75, and 80 is better. For May and June 

 bloom, successional batches may be planted at inter- 

 vals of three or four weeks after New Year. The last 

 crops will usually be the best. 



For November florists' bloom the bulbs are retarded 

 in a cool dry place until the middle of August. The 

 second batch should not be planted until about the 

 middle of September. This lot should give good 

 December bloom. 



For summer blooming in the open ground for florists, 

 the form known as the "Tall Double" is the most to be 

 preferred. In this variety, the flowers open better and 

 are a clearer and purer white than those of the Pearl. 

 The Albino is a single white tuberose, blooming in July 

 and August. It is a very floriferous variety, with flowers 

 that lack the brown or stained tint of some of the older 

 forms. The odor is less powerful, and therefore more 

 pleasant, than that of the ordinary tuberose. There 

 are several interesting forms. 



PETER HENDERSON & Co. 



3093 Polianthes toberoBa . 



Commercial production of tuberose bulbs. 



Tuberose bulbs were formerly grown extensively for 

 commercial purposes in Italy, and are grown in a small 

 way at the present time in South Africa, although the 

 African bulbs are not in much favor with European 

 florists because the bulbs ripen and are shipped in mid- 

 summer and a great number fail to bloom. The foreign- 

 grown bulbs are not imported into the United States 

 and, owing to the superiority of the American-grown 

 tuberoses and the low price at which they are produced, 

 they have driven the Italian-grown bulbs out of the 

 American market. About 80 per cent of the American 

 crop is exported. The larger part of the product of this 

 country is grown in a limited area in the southeastern 

 part of the state of North Carolina, although there has 

 been some falling off in recent years. 



Tuberose bulb-culture in the 

 southern states was first attempted 

 by F. A. Newbury in Duplin 

 County, North Carolina, in 1868. 

 Beginning with a dozen bulbs, he 

 propagated stock until, in 1888, 

 the yield was about 1,000,000 

 bulbs. During these years the crop 

 was cultivated entirely by hand 

 and consequently was very expen- 

 sive. The prices received at first 

 were $40 a 1,000, but since then 

 prices have declined each year as 

 quantity increased until, in 1888, 

 bulbs were selling at $6 to $8 a 

 1,000, and in 1915 at $5 to $7. 

 In 1888, the late H. E. Newbury, 

 a brother, bought out the business, 

 and he and J. F. Groom, another 

 grower who had propagated considerable stock, ex- 

 tended the business greatly, introducing less expensive 

 methods of cultivation. By use of the horse-plow they 

 were enabled greatly to reduce the selling price and 

 to stimulate demand for bulbs, so that the crop of 

 1900, within a radius of 20 miles of one point (Magno- 

 lia, North Carolina), amounted to 6,000,000 bulbs, 

 selling at wholesale in carload lots at $3.50 a 1,000. 

 This yield was secured from over 300 acres. The total 

 yield of the American-grown stock in 1915 was prob- 

 ably about 2,000,000 first-size bulbs. 



The crop is set in April, after the soil has been 

 thoroughly pulverized. It is then laid off in rows or 

 furrows 22 inches apart; into these is sown fertilizer at 

 the rate of 600 pounds to the acre. About 400 pounds of 

 cottonseed-meal and 20 bushels of good wood-ashes to 

 the acre have given the best results, although any reli- 

 able fertilizer with a good percentage of potash is good. 

 The fertilizer is thoroughly mixed with the soil by run- 

 ning a plow with point only in the furrow. Into this the 

 sets or "seed," as they are called, are carefully placed 

 upright by hand and covered with plow. Usually the 

 bulblets are rather slow in starting off, and just as they 

 begin to break through, the soil, which has become 

 hardened or crusted, is raked or broken up. This assists 

 the plant in getting up and also destroys any growth 

 of grass which may have started. Cultivation is per- 

 formed chiefly with a cotton-plow, using the sweeps to 

 put earth to the plant and destroying any grass in the 

 rows. Tillage is required every two weeks until August ; 

 an occasional hoeing between plants by hand is neces- 

 sary in order to loosen the soil and destroy weeds and 

 grass not reached by the plow. The crop is matured 

 and gathered between October 15 and November 15. 

 The tops by this time have reached a length of 18 to 

 20 inches; these are cut off at the ground with a sharp 

 weeding-hoe and the bulbs are plowed out very much as 

 potatoes are. Women then lift out and shake off the 

 earth, and the offsets are removed by hand. These sets 

 are the seed-stock for next season. The bulbs are graded 



