16 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



The Home 



BULBS AS HOUSE PLANTS. 



Queries occasionally come to the Colorado Agricultural 

 College concerning the proper handling of bulbs for home 

 decoration during the winter. Such information should be 

 of some general interest, as nothing adds more to the cheer- 

 fulness in the home than plants, and a few bulbs afford a 

 pleasing and all too uncommon variety. No class of plants 

 are of easier growth if a few fundamental principles are 

 adhered to. 



The first is, perhaps, a choice of kinds. The beginner 

 will do well, no doubt, to experiment first with a few kinds, 

 as a few well-grown specimens are much more satisfactory 

 than many which give indifferent results. In this class may 

 be placed the narcissi of various kinds, hyacinths and free- 

 zias. 



Narcissi come in many forms, as the polyanthus, jon- 

 quils and daffodils. The two common forms of hyacinths 

 are Dutch and Roman, while freezias are of but one kind. 



Soil for bulbs should be made light with sand and loam, 

 but aside from texture there is little else required. Any soil 

 in which the common house plants thrive will answer. 



Four or five-inch pots do nicely for bulbs, but the shal- 

 lower pans look neater. One hyacinth bulb is all that should 

 be grown in the smaller sizes, while from three to five nar- 

 .cissi, according to size, may be used. Some drainage ma- 

 terial, as a few pebbles or bits of broken pots, should be 

 placed in the bottom, then the pot is filled two-thirds full of 

 soil, which should be pressed down firm, but not packed ; 

 then the bulbs are placed so that they may have half an 

 inch of soil over them, and the surface of the soil should 

 be at least half an inch below the top. A thorough watering 

 is now given and the pots are put in a damp, moist place, 

 where the temperature will remain at not far from 50 de- 

 grees. This may be in a cellar, or even in a room, though 

 suitable protection must be afforded to prevent drying out. 

 A common practice is to bury the pots out of doors where 

 sufficient protection is given to maintain the required tem- 

 perature. This treatment is necessary in order to secure a 

 good development of roots before the top begins to grow. 

 This will, usually, take about four weeks, but their condi- 

 tion may be ascertained by an examination at any time. Pick 

 up one of the pots, invert it and tap the rim gently on a 

 table's edge and the contents will usually fall out readily 

 without disturbing either roots or soil. When the soil is 

 fairly well filled with roots it is time to place the pots in the 

 window. 



Freezias are, perhaps, the most satisfactory for several 

 reasons. They are very easy to grow, the bulbs are cheap 

 and but few flowers surpass them in fragrance or in beauty. 

 They are planted the same as the others, but as the bulbs 

 are small, a larger number should be planted in a pot, per- 

 haps six will be about right for a four-inch pot, a row 

 around the outside with one or two in the center. 



Unlike the other bulbs, freezias should be placed in the 

 window at once. Keep in the sunshine as much as possible 

 and water carefully. The plants are apt to take a spindling 

 growth any way, so a little care will be well repaid. As the 

 flower stalks begin to form they may need staking, but a 

 small stake may be used which will not be too conspicuous. 



After the flowers are exhausted, the plants should be 

 well ripened by gradually withholding water, then the pots 

 may be placed in the cellar until the next fall. The larger 

 bulbs may be used for forcing a second time. This is not 

 true, however, of the other kinds mentioned, as they are 

 worthless for forcing a second time. 



W. PADDOCK. 



Pure Food. 



and how we eat, often make us tired, yet when it comes to 

 food to eat it becomes a serious matter and concerns all of 

 us. It seems that almost everything we buy prepared for 

 food has been tampered with and adulterated, and some of 

 the most deadly poisons are often used in such cases as 

 preservatives. Everywhere people are demanding a halt. Too 

 much credit cannot be given to the Fort Collins, Colo., Cham- 

 ber of Commerce, for acting upon the suggestions of Dr. 

 George H. Glover, dean of the veterinary department of the 

 State Agricultural College, and his co-workers, and recom- 

 mending to the city council the enactment of a pure food 

 ordinance. While it has only been a few months since this 

 ordinance was put into effect, yet today Fort Collins can 

 boast of pure food laws that are enforced as in no other 

 city in the state and very. few in America. This pure food 

 law is practically self-supporting, although Dr. Glover, to 

 whom credit is more especially due for this good work, is 

 receiving nothing for his services. He has had two and three 

 assistants busy for two months inspecting milch cows and 

 the dairies. These assistants have not only profited by the 

 experience, but practically all the money that has been re- 

 ceived for inspection has gone to them. Of the $75 a month 

 which is paid to the inspector, $65 is paid to three assist- 

 ants two that are doing all the inspection of slaughter 

 houses, and Dr. Kingman, for the milk and cream analysis. 



Everything with respect to pure food legislation is grad- 

 ually working out satisfactorily. One reform after another 

 is being brought about without a jar or friction. The only 

 complaint that has amounted to anything has been from the 

 owners of cows in the city, who have objected to the $2 

 license fee. It is not presumed that everything will work 

 smoothly at the beginning. Mistakes will necessarily be made. 

 Dr. Glover will ask the city council to amend the ordinance 

 with respect to the license fee paid by the owners of one cow 

 where they simply supply milk to one or two neighbors. This 

 will be changed to a registration fee of fifty cents. 



L. M. T. 



Pure food legislation seems to be a popular theme nowa- 

 days, and while it is true that many articles running in the 

 magazines with reference to the way we eat, where we eat, 



Life on the Isthmus Isn't So Bad. 



Some aspects of life on the Isthmus were portrayed in 

 an entertaining manner by Mr. M. J. Stickel, the popular sec- 

 retary of the Young Men's Christian Association, at Cristo- 

 bal, in a letter to the home organization soon after his ar- 

 rival at Panama. He wrote : 



"I have been here five days, and I think I am prepared 

 to write a book on 'Panama : Past, Present and Future." 



"I have been the entire length of the canal zone twice, 

 and have viewed every phase of making dirt as well as mud 

 fly. At Culebra the air is vibrant with the noise of steam- 

 shovels, dirt trains and machine shops. This is varied by 

 the shock of frequent blasts of dynamite as great masses of 

 rock and clay are blown off the side of the hill to satisfy the 

 rapacious shovels. 



"I must say this, however : Never in all my life have I 

 been so disappointed in a place pleasantly so, however. The 

 climate thus far is most delightful. It is hot in the sun at 

 midday, but most pleasant in the shade. I have slept under 

 a blanket every night. 



"The one constant source of surprise is that things are 

 not foreign, nor scarcely tropical. One has to conjure with 

 his senses to realize that he is not in Galveston or Atlanta, or 

 even St. Louis. Everything is American. 



"This is a land of contradictions and perversions. Wagons 

 turn out to the left side of the road ; waiters serve you on 

 the left side of your plate ; the sun rises in the Pacific, and 

 has his going down in the Atlantic ; the Pacific end of the 

 canal is east of the Atlantic end ; breakfast is called 'coffee,' 

 luncheon is called 'breakfast,' although dinner, strange to 

 say, is actually called 'dinner.' You can't buy anything, ex- 

 cept stamps, with money save from Chinamen or natives ; 

 if you purchase ten cents' worth of stamps and hand in a $2 

 bill you will be given $3.80 in change. The gold employees 

 are all white, and the silver ones are all yellow or black; 

 and so on. 



"It is a fine place for women and children. The average 

 health among them is very much above that in the states, and 

 the man who has his family here is very fortunate in every 

 way, except, perhaps, in regard to children who are ready to 

 go to high school." From "The Lighter Side of Life at Pan- 

 ama," by Gertrude Beeks, in The Circle for October. 



