BULB GEOWING AT THE UNITED STATES BULB GABDEET. 11 



The beds are then covered with 3 or 4 inches of litter (straw or 

 grass) for protection during the winter. In the spring this litter is 

 usually raked off; sometimes it is left as a mulch. During the grow- 

 ing season the plants are kept free from weeds. The beds are fre- 

 quently inspected for sickly or diseased bulbs. If any are observed, 

 they, with about 6 inches of the surrounding soil, are removed and 

 burned. In the spring the truss of the flowers is pinched out just 

 about the time they are coming into full bloom. By this treatment 

 the strength of the plant that normally is used in the development of 

 the seed is forced into the development of the bulb. The stronger 

 and larger the bulbs, other things being equal, the better the results 

 from scooping and scoring. The bulbs are mature about June, and are 

 then- lifted and, when properly dried in the field, placed on shelves 

 in a well-ventilated bulb house to cure. 



This process requires from four to six weeks, depending somewhat 

 upon the condition of the bulbs, the weather conditions, and the at- 

 tention given to the details of the work. When properly cured the 

 old roots and dry scales are rubbed off and the bulbs graded into 

 firsts and seconds for scooping and scoring. 



In the spring of 1912 officials of the Bureau of Plant Industry per- 

 fected a power machine for scooping mother bulbs. (See fig. 6.) 



In order to test the effect of machine-scooped compared with hand- 

 scooped hyacinth bulbs, one half of the mother bulbs intended for 

 scooping in 1912 were hand-worked and the other half machine- 

 worked. 



A careful inspection shows that the hand-scooped bulbs are some- 

 what smoother and cleaner cut and the scales more widely separated 

 from each other than is the case with the machine-scooped bulbs. It 

 remains to be seen, however, whether the yield of bulblets is in- 

 fluenced by these conditions or whether a larger amount of disease 

 develops in the machine-scooped bulbs, owing to the fact that possibly 

 disease can not be so readily detected in the mother bulbs when using 

 the machine as when the work is done by hand. The use of machin- 

 ery for this work is interesting, and if the results are satisfactory 

 will mean the saving of considerable time where large quantities of 

 bulbs are to be scooped. On account of the comparatively small 

 number of bulbs that would be scooped, however, even when bulbs are 

 extensively propagated, the time saved in scooping would not com- 

 pare with that which might be saved by the use of machinery in 

 harvesting, cleaning, grading, etc. 



The scooped and scored mother bulbs, when in proper condition, 

 are placed in trays or on shelves in the propagating house. (See 

 Fig. 8.) 



