4 BULLETIN 28, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



the United States Department of Agriculture as " Bellingham silt 

 loam," and is thus described in a report dated January 30, 1909. 

 entitled " Soil Survey of Bellingham Area, Washington ": 



The soil of the Bellingham silt loam, to an average depth of 12 inches, is a 

 dark brown to drab colored heavy silt loam, carrying a large quantity of 

 decomposed organic matter. When turned up with a plow and in a dry con- 

 dition, the soil becomes lighter in color and has a light-brown or grayish 

 appearance. The subsoil is a heavy drab-colored to slightly mottled silt loam, 

 which becomes somewhat heavier and more compact as the depth increases, 

 and at 30 to 36 inches usually has the characteristics of a silt clay. Small 

 pockets of gravel or coarse sand are frequently encountered in the deeper 

 subsoil. 



The mechanical analysis of a sample of the Bellingham silt loam 

 in comparison with a sample from the island of Guernsey, one from 

 the Netherlands that is reported to be the type of soil best suited 

 to hyacinth-bulb production, and one from the average type of soil 

 in the Netherlands used for hyacinth-bulb production is shown in 

 Table I. 



Table I. — Mechanical analyses of soils used for growing bulbs on the island 

 of Guernsey, in the Netherlands, and at the United States Bulb Garden at 

 Bellingham, Wash. 



Locality. 



Fine 

 gravel 



(2-1 

 mm.). 



Coarse 

 sand 

 (1-0.5 

 mm.). 



Medium 



sand 

 (0.5-0.25 

 mm.). 



Fine 



sand 



(0.2.5-0.1 



mm.). 



Very 

 fine sand 

 (0.1-0.05 



mm.). 



Silt 



(0.05-0.005 



mm.). 



Clay 



( 0.005-0 



mm.). 





5.6 

 .0 



.3 

 .3 



7.8 

 .4 



.6 

 1.3 



4.8 

 19.5 



10.3 



.4 



12.1 



78.5 



76.7 

 2.7 



15.8 

 . 7 



2.5 



8.3 



38.3 

 .6 



5.5 



68.7 



15.5 



Netherlands, best type of soil. . . 

 Netherlands, average type of 



.4 



4.0 





18.1 







It will be noted that the Bellingham silt loam is low in medium 

 and fine sand and high in silt and clay. Tests at the Bellingham 

 bulb garden lead to the belief that the lighter type of soil — that is, 

 the one containing the highest percentage of medium and fine sand 

 and consequently low T in silt and clay — is best suited to hyacinth-bulb 

 growing. 



The work thus far has included the propagation and growing of 

 hyacinths, tulips, and narcissuses. At the time the garden was estab- 

 lished 170,400 bulbs were planted. In 1912, in addition to over 

 1,000,000 bulbs planted, approximately 33,000 were put into the con- 

 gressional distribution of the Department of Agriculture. 



HYACINTHS. 



In the eighteenth century hyacinths were among the most prized 

 of cultivated florists' flowers, and enthusiasts of those days paid 

 as much as £200 sterling ($973.30) for single bulbs of exceptional 



