Soil for Bulbs. 325 



tank, the sides should be of dry pine, two inches thick, ten to eleven inches 

 wide ; the bottom to be an inch and a half thick, tongued and grooved 

 tightly together, grooved for the sides, and nailed crosswise the tank in 

 such a manner as to be perfectly tight. A strip two and a half inches 

 wide is fastened to the sides at the bottom on the inside ; a division-piece of 

 the same width in the middle to divide the current, and support the covering. 

 Before putting on the covering, the tank inside should be well painted with 

 two coats of coal-tar and linseed-oil boiled together : the covering should 

 be of perfectly sound stuff, free from sap, three-quarters to seven-eighths of an 

 inch thick, tongued and grooved to fit tightly, well painted both sides with 

 the same solution, and well fitted and nailed to the supports. No steam or 

 vapor should be allowed to rise from the bottom. A few small openings in 

 the sides of the tank, level with the top of the covering, avail for drainage. 

 On the covering should be placed one and a half or two inches of fine 

 broken brickbats or gravel : this should have a thin course of strawy or 

 coarse litter to receive the sand for plunging. The pots with the cuttings 

 are plunged in the sand to the rim, the whole being kept moist ; and with 

 this arrangement it gives a most genial bottom-heat, that, for regularity and 

 efficiency, is not excelled by any other process, with an almost entire cer- 

 tainty of rooting every cutting, if properly prepared and attended to. 



Ventilation is provided by a row of ventilators along one side of the 

 ridge. 



The cost of these pits, made in a durable manner, with double thick glass, 

 say forty feet in length complete, is, for elevation No. i, from three hundred 

 to four hundred dollars ; for elevation No. 2, fifty dollars extra, more or 

 less, according to the method of heating employed. F. A. Lord. 



Syracuse, N.Y. 



SOIL FOR BULBS. 



As a general rule, a soil with a proportion of sand is best suited to the 

 growth of bulbs. Some even thrive in pure sand ; and there are very few 

 which will succeed in heavy, close, clayey, or peaty soil. 



