48 THE PRACTICAL GARDEN -BOOK 



out. A large size hyacinth bulb will do well in a 5 -inch 

 pot. The same size pot will do for three or four narcissuses 

 or eight to twelve crocuses. 



After the bulbs are planted in the pots or other recep- 

 tacles, they should be placed in a cool place, either in a 

 cold pit or cellar, or on the shady side of a building, or, 

 better yet, plunged or buried up to the rim of the pot in a 

 shady border. This is done to force the roots to grow 

 while the top stands still ; as only the bulbs with good roots 

 will give good flowers. When the weather gets so cold that 

 a crust is frozen on the soil, the pots should be covered 

 with a little straw, and as the weather gets colder more 

 straw must be used. In from six to eight weeks after 

 planting the bulbs, they should have made roots enough to 

 grow the plant, and they may be taken up and placed in a 

 cool room for a week or so, after which, if they have 

 started into growth, they may be taken into a warmer room 

 where they can have plenty of light. They will grow very 

 rapidly now and will want lots of water, and after the 

 flowers begin to show, the pots may stand in a saucer of 

 water all the time. When just coming into bloom the 

 plants may have full sunlight part of the time to help 

 bring out the color of the flowers. 



Bushes. See Shrubs. 



Cabbage. For an early crop, the plants must be 

 started either in February or early March, or the previous 

 September and wintered over in coldframes. This latter 

 method was once a common practice by gardeners near large 

 cities, but the building of greenhouses to replace the many 

 hotbeds of the market -gardener has changed the practice 

 in many localities, and now most of the early Cabbages 

 in the north are grown from seed sown in January, Feb- 

 ruary or March. The plants are hardened off in March and 

 early April and planted out as early as possible. The pri- 

 vate grower, or one with a small garden, may often procure 

 his early plants from the market-gardener much cheaper 



