January 25, 1917. 



The Florists' Review 



26 



1^3 



BULB GROWING IN HOLLAND. 



[This is an extract- frorr a naner read at a 

 recent meetinB of the Cleveland Florists' Club, 

 in Cleveland, O., by John Van Iieeuwen, of Sas- 

 Hcnheim, Holland. Mr. Van Leeuwen described 

 the methods used in Holland in the culture of 

 three groups of bulbous i)lants. Tliis section ot 

 his paper has reference only to hyacinths. Two 

 more installments, treating respectively of tu- 

 lips and narcissi, will be iiublished in future is- 

 sues of The Review.] 



The original of all the hyacinths with 

 which you are familiar is Hyacinthus 

 orientalis, and this bulb is a native of 

 Greece and Asia Minor. 



The first hyacinths were all single- 

 flowered, but toward the end of the sev- 

 enteenth century double varieties com- 

 menced to appear and until recently 

 were most esteemed. 



Some Wonderful Prices. 



In western Europe hyacinths were in 

 cultivation prior to 1597, in which year 

 they were mentioned by Gerard. In a 

 book which Rea wrote in 1665 several 

 single and double varieties were alluded 

 to, as being then in English gardens, 

 while Justice in 1754 described more 

 than fifty single and nearly 100 double 

 varieties as a selection of the best from 

 the catalogues of five then celebrated 

 Dutch growers. Some of them surely 

 brought high enough prices. He men- 

 tions a single white, called La Reine 

 des Femmes, of which the list price was 

 $20 for each bulb. Three doubles, called 

 Conqueror, Gloria Mundi and King Sol- 

 omon, at that time could not be bought 

 under $40, $200 and $250, respectively. 

 This shows how much double varieties 

 were in vogue in those days. Since then, 

 however, all this has changed. Of all 

 the countries where we now sell bulbs, 

 France is the only one where double 

 hyacinths find a ready market, and of 

 course there is no place left where we 

 could make such prices as those men- 

 tioned. Besides that, where then hya- 

 cinths were grown by only a few, and 

 in extremely small quantities, the num 

 ber of growers now is unlimited and 

 acres upon acres of the bulbs are grown. 



The Sandbanks of HoUand. 



The question often is asked: "Why 

 are these bulbs grown in Holland 

 only?" The answer is that centuries 

 ago, long before Holland had any his- 

 tory, the North sea flowed over a large 

 part of what is now the western section 

 of the country. Historians sav that 

 <iuring a great .storm the sea itself threw 

 up that long row of sandhills, called 

 aunes, which are now the natural pro- 

 tection against the sea. Just behind 

 these dunes a few long, narrow sand- 

 banks were left, and it is on these old 

 sandbanks that the hyacinths are grown, 

 ihe soil is almost pure sand, without 

 any dust, and onlv mixed with the chalk 

 ot decayed shells. This peculiar condi- 

 tion IS the reason that hvacinths can 

 oe grown successfully in Holland onlv. 



Propagation of Hyacinths. 



Holland growers have two methods 

 of propagating hyacinths. One way is 

 to cut the entire bottom out of the bulb. 

 The wound thus made is covered with 

 dry lime, to prevent rotting. The bulbs 

 are then placed on shelves, bottom up- 

 ward. These shelves arc put in a spe- 

 cially constructed bulb house, in which 

 the temperature is run high, and which 

 is entirely dark. Soon the young bulbs 

 commence to grow in this wound and 

 they continue to appear until they num- 

 ber from fifty to over 100. In the late 

 fall these mother bulbs, with the small 



T3VERY now and then a well- 

 ■9 pleased reader speaks the word 

 which is the means of bringing a 

 new advertiser to 



Such friendly assistance is thorooghly 

 appreciated. 



Give us the name of anyone from 

 whom you are buying, not an adver- 

 tiser. "We especially wish to interest 

 those selling articles of florisfs use 

 not at present advertised. 



FLORISTS* PUBLISHING CO. 

 330-60 Cazton BIdg. Chicago 



ones attached, are planted. When they 

 are dug the next year, the old bulb has 

 disappeared, leaving nothing but a lot 

 of dry skin, and the young ones have 

 made some growth. They are still small, 

 however; in fact, not much larger than 

 an ordinary pea. 



The other method is to give the bulb 

 three cuts across the bottom. This 

 method does not produce so many bulbs, 

 but it has the advantage that the young 

 bulbs are larger and require less time 

 to attain their full growth. The first 

 method, however, produces nicer, clean- 

 er bulbs. 



Preparing the Ground. 



Preparatory to growing hyacinths in 

 Holland, in the early spring we level 

 the ground carefully. If the surface 

 were left uneven, the chances are that 

 in tlie lower spots the bulbs would 

 drown. The surface of our land is only 

 two feet above the water, and we there- 

 fore must be extremely careful. When 

 the land is leveled, we put on the ma- 

 nure. Tills is pure cow manure, and we 

 apply about ten bushels to the square 



rod. Our rod is only twelve feet square. 

 This manure is spread out evenly and 

 then dug under with a spade. As soon 

 as this land is ready a preparatory crop 

 is grown on it, usually potatoes, but 

 sometimes peas. The potatoes are ripe 

 early; in fact, they are all dug and 

 marketed before August 1. They are 

 generally used for foreign markets. 

 Hollanders do not like them, because, 

 on account of the heavy manuring, they 

 are so greasy that they can be fried in 

 a pan without adding thither butter or 

 lard. 



Soon after this first crop is taken off 

 the land it is again manured, this time 

 with about two bushels of cow manure 

 per rod. This again is dug under with 

 a spade, and the land is now rej^dy for 

 the bulbs. 



Planting and Protection. 



Beds are made about three feet wide 

 and never longer than about forty feet. 

 'Our gardens are laid out so that they 

 uTe about eighty-five feet wide, and a 

 path runs through the middle and along 

 the sides. The top soil of the first bed 

 is taken out, and wheeled to the other 

 end of the field. The surface which is 

 thus exposed in the first bed is raked 

 until exactly even, and the bulbs are 

 planted in straight cross-rows. When 

 the entire bed is planted, the top soil 

 from the second bed is used to fill up 

 the first bed, and so the process goes 

 on until the entire field is planted. 



When the planting is completed, the 

 top of the beds is raked evenly and then 

 covered with about eight inches of 

 reeds, as protection from frost. 



As soon as the winter is over, part of 

 this covering is taken off, so as to ac- 

 custom the new foliage to the cold tem- 

 perature. Soon, however, the last of the 

 winter covering is removed, but is fol- 

 lowed by an extremely light applica- 

 tion of cow manure, which covers the 

 ground and the foliage, so as to protect 

 from night frosts and the blowing of 

 the sand, in case high winds should 

 occur. 



Diseases of Hyacinths. 



Then begins the work of keeping the 

 fields free from weeds and hunting for 

 diseased bulbs. 



There are two diseases of hyacinths 

 which the grower dreads. One of these, 

 called "the yellow disease," rots the 

 bulb the first year, and is hard to fight. 

 Another, known as "the old disease," 

 is slower but is mighty sure. If one 

 bulb which has contracted "the old 

 disease" stays in the ground, it affects 

 ten or twelve and sometimes more bulbs 

 around it. 



We are glad to say, however, that of 

 late years neither of these diseases has 

 bothered us much, and we think we have 

 conquered both of them. 



Harvesting and Sorting. 



When the foliage is so nearlv dead 



