^mith] a SiCCESSIOX OF FLOWERS 2'i,-. 



is the one which florists follow. The pots of bulbs are merely 

 buried in trenches about six inches under ground, but the trenches 

 should have cinders in the bottom if the ground has poor drain- 

 age. For .earliest bloom the bulbs would be buried as soon as 

 they can be purchased, but for later results the process would 

 be repeated at intervals until the end of November, or until the 

 ground freezes. DiflFerent plans which have been worked out by 

 students, by burying the potted bulbs, are as follows : 



I. Buried on the sunny side of an inner court. November 

 27th : pots dug up and brought into dim light April 4 ; the cro- 

 cuses and squills began to blossom April Sth : the trumpet-major 

 and \ an Sion daffodils and Xarcissus poeticus oruatus began to 

 blossom April 12th. Immediately after the pots were buried, the 

 ground was covered over with several inches of coarse litter to 

 serve as a mulch. Thus the cold weather did not keep the bulb> 

 dormant. 



II. On the south side of a house, mulching was put on earlv. 



III. In the open ground, reached by the sun's rays all day 

 long, no mulch was used. 



IV. On the north side of a house, where the ground did not 

 thaw out as early in spring as did the sunny ground, no mulch 

 was used. 



V. On the north side of a house, and after the ground had 

 froaen hard in December, mulch was scattered over the ground. 

 The mulch kept the ground frozen still longer in the spring, and 

 the bulbs blossomed in the house the last week in Ma v. 



How To Pot Bulbs. 



Directions for potting bulbs are always included in the bulb 

 catalogues, though modification to suit school conditions must 

 sometimes be made. At the Chicago Teachers* College excel- 

 lent results have come from the use of the authorized self-water- 

 ing metal window boxes, and these devices may be improvised 

 in many ways as illustrated in a current Xature Study Leaflet.* 



1. The number of bulbs per pot must depend on the size 

 of the bulbs and of the pots, but not more than the following 

 numbers should be used in a six inch pot: five tulips, six cro- 

 cuses, three narcissi, three hyacinths. 



*Grant Smith, ''Improved Self -Watering Devises for Home 

 and School." Xature Study Lea/let, Xo. 6, 1912, Illustrated. Chi- 

 cago Normal School Press. 



