SOILS AND MANURES, 15 



well. But heavy soils, if treated as above advised, will 

 do equally well for bulb growing in gardens. The best 

 form of leaf -mould is that obtained from an oak coppice. 

 Ordinary leaf-mould made from elm, lime, sycamore, and 

 poplar leaves is not so good, because it is apt to introduce 

 fungi to the soil. The peat, too, should not be too light, 

 spongy, fibry, or boggy in nature, but of a medium tex- 

 ture, and the best sand to use is the coarse silver sand. 

 Cocoanut-fibre refuse also comes in handy for mulching 

 the surface after planting. 



Manures. For light soils decayed cow manure is 

 best, and for heavy ones well-rotted horse manure is the 

 most suitable. Both should be buried six inches for small 

 bulbs and a foot below the surface for the large ones. 

 When the bulbs are in full growth their roots will then 

 easily reach the manure and benefit by it. When the 

 manure is near the surface the roots cannot derive any 

 benefit from it; moreover, if it should happen to touch 

 the bulbs it invariably subjects them to disease. Arti- 

 ficial manures are very beneficial to bulbs if judiciously 

 applied. On the heavier soils apply basic slag at the rate 

 of 4oz. per square yard, and kainit at the rate of loz. per 

 square yard. On light soils superphosphate should be 

 used instead of basic slag, at the rate of IJoz. per square 

 yard, and kainit at the same rate as advised for a heavy 

 soil. In both cases apply in autumn, when preparing the 

 soil. Bone-meal is also a good artificial manure for a 

 heavy soil, and should be used at the same rate as advised 

 for slag. For a spring dressing, in default of an autumn 

 application, apply IJoz. of superphosphate and Joz. of 

 sulphate of potash per square yard, forking it in. A good 

 all-round fertiliser for permanent and temporary bulbs is 

 the following: Mix together one part by weight of kainit, 

 two parts of mineral phosphate, half a part of nitrate of 

 soda, and a quarter part of sulphate of iron. Apply one 

 ounce of this mixture to every square foot of soil occupied 



