12 BULLETIN 797, U. S. DEPAKTMEISTT OF AGRICULTURE. 



the work at Bellingham, Wash., however, both a narrow-bladed hoe 

 and a 3-tined hoe have been used with good success, the latter while 

 the weeds are small and the former afterwards. 



At Bellingham the beds are left rough at planting time. The}- are 

 covered by the dirt as it falls from the shovel and are left untouched 

 until the planting is finished, when the cultivation is begun by raking 

 the beds smooth with a hand rake. This raking is kept up as soil 

 conditions permit until the appearance of the plants above ground 

 prevents it. After this, practically no cultivation is attempted, but 

 hand weeding is practiced and the paths between the beds are kept 

 free from weeds by the use of the hand or wheel hoe. Before digging, 



Fig. 6. — Covering- bulb beds in the Virginia region in late autumn with a plow. 



the beds are hoed oif to get rid of the old leaves as well as the remain- 

 ing weeds. This practice is not satisfactory and is particularly ex- 

 pensive. 



In the fields in Virginia, where bulbs are grown in beds 18 inches 

 wide with 18-inch walks between, the practice is not essentially dif- 

 ferent from that at Bellingham, but there the bulbs are not dug more 

 often than once in three years. In autumn and early winter in that 

 locality the beds are covered by turning a furrow each way from the 

 paths, thus covering them with 3 or 4 inches of soil. (Fig. 6.) Before 

 the plants begin to push through in the spring the beds are gone over 

 thoroughly with a spike-tooth harrow. After the tops die down the 

 weeds are kept mowed and allowed to lie on the ground. 



