PRODUCTIOlSr OF TULIP BULBS. 



27 



weights, measures, and numbers as it is with potatoes or any other 

 similar crop. 



The data in Table 3, worked out in August, 1920, ten days to two 

 weeks after the bulbs were cleaned, may be accepted as representative. 

 Counts and measurements were made of the bulbs as they had dried 

 out for that length of time on the shelves in a bulb house which was 

 poorly controlled. 



Table 3. — Relation of weights and measures of tulip bulbs. 

 [All bulbs flowered this year except those of Farncombe Sanders.] 



Name of the 



Size of bulbs (cen- 

 timeters). 



Bulbs to a bushel. 



Nmnber 

 of bulbs 



in a 

 pound. 



Remarks. 



variety. 



Planted. 



Dug. 



Number. 



Weight 

 (pounds). 



Farncombe Sanders. 



Oardinal's Hat 



Clara Butt 



8+ 



8+ 

 8+ 

 8+ 

 8+ 

 8+ 

 8+ 



11 to 15 



11 to 13 

 10 to 13 

 9 to 12 



10 to 12 

 o9tol3 



11 to 13 



770 



1,050 



980 



1,295 



1,148 



1,855 



944 



54^ 



56J 



56 



56 



56J 



56 



56 



14i 



18+ 

 17i 

 23i 

 20+ 

 33J 

 16f 



About half of the bulbs were 



long necked. 

 Bulbs rather undersized. 



Crimson Bang 



Macrosphila. . . 



Stock planted last autumn. 



Do 



Stock undug last year. 



Fairy Queen 





o Mostly 9 to 10 centimeters. 



From Table 3 it will be seen that the weight of a bushel of bulbs 

 is quite constant, and 56 pounds has been adopted as the weight of 

 a bushel measure slightly rounded. So far as known, no standard 

 weight of a bushel of tulip bulbs has been established. The number 

 of mature bulbs in a bushel will manifestly vary greatly with the 

 variety, as will the variety under different methods of handling and 

 the crop of one season with that of another. 



PREPARATION OF STOCKS FOR PLANTING. 



Let us assume that the stocks are all cleaned and returned to the 

 shelves. Some work must still be done on them before they are 

 ready to plant. The method used in sizing the bulbs will depend 

 upon the kind of machinery employed. Except where the opera- 

 tions are large and the equipment ample the work is likely to be 

 done on a makeshift basis. But if any quantity of bulbs is to be 

 sized, the grower can not well get along without about four nesting 

 sieves. (PL X, Fig. 3.) This will allow of a separation into five 

 sizes. For moderate quantities of bulbs the sieves can be operated 

 by hand, but it is decidedly advantageous to construct a shaker, as 

 shown in Plate XV, Figure 1 . This holds the nest of sieves and may 

 make a separation at one operation of about one-third of a bushel 

 into five sizes. 



When these separations have been made, each size is placed in a 

 different container, labeled, and sent to the field in lots, each lot 



