6 BULLETIN 79*7, U. S. DEPARTMElSrT OF AGEICULTURE. 



tion ill the relation of different sizes, owing to seasonal variation, 

 and, further, by the fact that merchantable bulbs are turned off 

 more closely some seasons than others. In the above case an average, 

 which means but little, would be 8,400 for the area specified. It is 

 on this account that the row and the bed are such prominent units 

 of bulb measurement in the Netherlands. They do not contain the 

 same number of bulbs, but an effort is made to occupy the ground 

 uniiormly, and there is consequently about an equivalent quantity of 

 plant material on any given area. 



PLANTING. 



Long experience and practice have brought the art of planting, as 

 well as other Dutch-bulb operations, to an exact formula. In this 

 country the ground is thoroughly prepared with a plow, disk, and 

 harrow, but in the Netherlands mainly with a spade and rake. It is 



well to run a float or 



JUv, 



Lfc. 



l.efeai';si«aJ^M.<:-:ga»i.T. jyt».a<a^^ 



^n.l-!^i-~'A~'JJ?^ 



Fig. 



1. — A field of the Sir Watkin narcissus. Experi- 

 mental planting at Bellingham, Wash., 1918. 



roller over the field as 

 a final preparation, in 

 order to smooth the 

 surface and compact 

 the soil a little. 



The land is first laid 

 out into plats accu- 

 rately measured and 

 squared with the aid 

 of a taut line. These 

 plats are then subdi- 

 vided into beds by 

 means of lines 

 stretched on each side 

 of the 3-foot bed,^ leaving, with us, a 15-inch path between. (Fig, 1.) 

 At the same time a permanent peg or stake is set at each comer of the 

 bed. These stakes remain throughout the season. The bed is then 

 marked off with a common spade by shoving it into the ground along 

 the line to a depth of 5 or 6 inches and pulling the dirt into the center 

 of the bed by a scraping motion. The soil is then, with a shovel, 

 thrown out of the first bed in the plat to a depth of about 4 inches. 

 Next, the bottom of the bed is smoothed with a garden rake, and a 

 marker is run through, which defines the boundaries, rows, and the 

 center of the planted bed. After this, the bulbs are set out. usually 

 by two men on their knees on either side of the bed. The covering is 



1 While the beds are laid off 3 feet wide and are spoken of as 3-foot heds. bulbs are set on 

 the 3-foot line on either side. The bed, therefore, really occupies about 30 inches, since 

 the plants on the edgres project IJ inches on either side, thus making- the bed a meter wide, 

 the same as the conventional Dutch planting. 



