BULB GROWING AT THE UNITED STATES BULB GARDEN. 9 



would have entered into the production of the plant and flowers is 

 used up in the production of baby bulbs. After scooping, the mother 

 bulbs are put in trays and placed in the sun for about a day for the 

 purpose of drying the freshly cut surfaces. (Fig. 7.) The trays are 

 then placed in a propagating house where ventilation and light can 

 be controlled (fig. 8), where a temperature of from 75° to 90° F. is 

 maintained. Sometimes sand, ashes, or air-slaked lime are dusted 

 over the freshly cut surface to assist in absorbing the moisture caused 

 by scooping out the base of the bulbs before they are placed in the 

 propagating house. The scales soon separate somewhat, callus, and 

 produce young bulblets. If the mother bulbs are scooped soon after 

 harvest (say at some time in July) and properly handled, they should 

 produce a fine lot of baby bulbs by planting time in October. (Fig. 9.) 



Fig. 9. — Mother hyacinth bulbs that have developed an excellent crop of young bulb- 

 lets. If properly handled, the mother bulbs at the time of planting should resemble 

 the two bulbs shown above. 



The time required to mature bulbs by this method is from four to 

 seven years, depending more or less upon the variety, the size of the 

 bulblets, and the conditions under which they are grown. 



Scoring is the second most important commercial method of propa- 

 gating hyacinths. By it fewer but larger and stronger bulblets are 

 produced. On this account the smaller and poorer mature bulbs are 

 generally selected for scoring. The process consists in making from 

 two to four cuts across the base of the bulb, depending upon its size, 

 and extending through to about its center. The fewer the cuts, as a 

 rule, the fewer and larger the bulblets. ( See fig. 4. ) The process of 

 scoring kills the flower and growing point, and the strength of the 

 bulb that would have been used in producing a plant and flowers is 

 utilized in the production of baby bulbs, the same as in scooping. 



9217°— Bull. 28—13 2 



