THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



some pan or box in a sunny window. 

 The fact that plants giving bloom at this 

 very desirable time are of such easy 

 culture, and that the different kinds of 

 bulbs can be secured at such a moderate 

 price, should induce everyone to plant 

 extensively. 



To have a succession of bloom from 

 the time when snow is still to be seen 

 until the last of June, one should plant 

 scillas, snowdrops, crocus, hyacinths, 

 narcissus, crown imperials, paeonies, 

 daffodils, tulips, etc. 



Bulbs will thrive in any kind of soil 

 and in any situation, so no one should 

 be without them. While this is a fact, 

 better results are obtained when more 

 care is exercised in the selection of soil 

 and location. A good deep sandy soil 

 gives best satisfaction, located where 

 the bed may receive at least a part of 

 the forenoon sun. In preparing the 

 bed, it should be spaded up deep and 

 made fine. The bulbs should be planted 

 from two inches to six inches deep, and 

 from three inches to six inches apart. 

 The bed should be slightly raised above 

 the surrounding soil, so that water will 

 not settle around the roots and bulbs. 



Although most of the Holland bulbs 

 are perfectly hardy, they do much better 

 if they have some protection through 

 the winter. A covering of stable 

 manure over the bed after it is planted 

 in the fall, to the depth of from four to 

 six inches, is the proper thing. This 

 will keep the bulbs from being repeatedly 

 thawed out and frozen up, should the 

 winter be an open one. Besides this, 

 the strength is washed out of the 

 manure down into the soil by the 

 autumns rains, and annually enriches 

 the soil. By this annual covering the 

 flowers are made much larger and of a 

 more brilliant color. Of course, it 

 must be removed as soon as the frost 

 is out of the ground in the spring. 

 All these hardy bulbs should be 



planted in the fall, and the earlier they 

 are put in the better. While they may 

 be planted on ' into November, if the 

 ground is not frozen, far more satisfac- 

 tory results are obtained from earlier 

 plantings. The bulbs have to make the 

 most of their roots in the fall, before 

 the ground becomes frozen, for as soon 

 as the frost is gone -in the spring the 

 bloom makes its appearance, and there 

 is no time for the bulbs to make roots, 

 as, instead of that, the roots must be 

 feeding the flower and producing a new 

 bulb. The sooner they are in the bet- 

 ter, as more time is given for root 

 growth, and the stronger the root the 

 larger the flower the following spring. 

 The first of September is the time when 

 bulbs should be planted to give most 

 satisfactory results. 



In planting bulbs, do not mix the 

 different kinds in the same bed. Keep 

 the tulips in a bed by themselves, and 

 the hyacinths by themselves, and the 

 same with the other varieties of bulbs. 

 Nothing gives more displeasure than to 

 see a bed of all kinds and sizes mixed. 

 Hyacinths of dwarf growth and tulips 

 with long stems do not look well to- 

 gether. Keep each kind by itself. 



Many people take their bulbs up 

 annually, after they have ripened up in 

 the summer, and replant them again in 

 the autumn. This is useless. They 

 should be left in the ground three or 

 four years, and then the clumps should 

 be taken up and divided and replanted. 

 By leaving in the ground year after year 

 finer flowers are produced, and the 

 labor of replanting is done away with. 

 They also multiply more rapidly when 

 left undisturbed for some time. 



Every lover of flowers should plant 

 freely of these hardy bulbs, the culture 

 of which is so very simple, and whose 

 brilliant bloom is produced at a time 

 when most desired. — Farmers' Advocate. 



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