COMMERCIAL DUTCH-BULB CULTURE. 



accomplished wlien the dirt is taken out in opening the second bed, 

 the surface being left rough as the dirt falls from the shovel and 

 smoothed off late in the season. The bottom of the second bed is then 

 prepared for setting the bulbs, and the process is repeated with suc- 

 cessive beds until the entire plat is planted. To facilitate the work 

 the corners of the beds are marked permanently by stakes at the time 

 they are laid off and these stakes serve as guides. 



In laying off the ground careful attention is given to configuration, 

 so that the drainage may be as nearly perfect as possible. Com- 

 monly the plats are marked off by the previous plowing, the back 

 furrow being thrown into the middle of the land, thus draining 

 into the dead furrow between the plats or lands. Wliere the subsoil 

 is sandy, allowing the ready percolation of moisture, drainage 

 ditches between the 

 plats are not neces- 

 sary, but in heavier 

 soils it is imperative 

 to make them. Even 

 in sandy soils it is 

 better that ample 

 drainage be provided, 

 because if the surface 

 of the soil freezes 

 there may be a time 

 when water will be 

 pocketed for a few 

 days, to the injury of 

 the bulbs. 



The bulb bed in the 

 Netherlands is laid off 

 a meter wide and of 

 any convenient 

 length — ^the width of the plat or land — ^preferably about 33 feet 

 (10 meters). The plats are separated by walks 4 to 8 or 10 feet 

 wide, which include the drainage ditches. In some instances 

 narrow and wide walks alternate. Between the beds paths 12 to 16 

 inches wide are left. The rows run across the beds and are there- 

 fore a meter (39.37 inches) long. Our marker was made to lay off 

 rows 6 inches apart. This marker is the same in principle as that 

 used by the onion growers of southern Texas, being made of slats 

 set in the periphery of an 18-inch cylinder 3 feet in lengih (fig. 2). 



This handmade machine marks the row and the boundaries and 

 center of the bed and is operated in the depression, which has pre- 

 viouslv been raked to a level. One marker does all the work, and 



L 



Fig. 2. — Marking a bed with a homemade marker. The 

 machine marks the rows, the outside, and the middle of 

 the bed. 



