BULB GARDENING 187 



The bulbs like rich, mellow soil. If you have a heavy 

 clay soil, have some of the older pupils suggest how it may 

 be made more mellow; by mixing with it some humus 

 (decayed vegetable matter). Nothing is better than well- 

 rotted material from around the barn. Some farmer who 

 is interested will haul you a little of this fertilizer some day 

 when he is going past the schoolhouse. Let the pupils 

 prepare the bed. Throw out the top soil to the depth of 

 six or eight inches. Put the fertilizer in to the depth of 

 two inches and spade this into the soil. Now throw back 

 not quite half of the top soil. Set the bulbs firmly in this, 

 about eight inches apart. Let every child plant at least 

 one bulb. Now throw in the rest of the soil. The bulbs 

 should be covered with four to six inches of soil. Another 

 way to plant the bulbs is to prepare the bed by digging, 

 putting in fertilizers, and raking till it is in good con- 

 dition. Cut off about nine inches from the upper part 

 of an old spade handle, and sharpen this or sharpen any 

 round stick. You now have an instrument with which 

 you can make holes in the bed. Into these holes drop the 

 bulbs and cover with soil. 



What do you expect the bulbs to do this fall ? Where 

 is the ground warmer this time of year, six inches below 

 the surface or near the top ? Which part of the plant will 

 be likely to grow ? What we want the plant to do is to 

 make a good root growth this fall. Why do we not want 

 the upper part of the bulb to grow until spring ? We want 

 the roots to get a good start, for only the bulbs with good 

 roots will produce good flowers. 



When the top layer of soil is frozen hard, then we must 

 cover up our bulb beds. Straw, leaves, or cornstalks may 



