COMMEECIAL DUTCH-BULB CULTURE. 



13 



In the Soutli, both horse and hand cultivation have been practiced, 

 the bulbs being planted in rows 15 inches apart. There is little doubt 

 that a method of planting and digging which will make possible the 

 keeping down of weeds by some power other than the hand will 

 prove decidedly advantageous. It is essential to get away from the 

 practices of letting the w<^eds go after the plants are up, on the one 

 hand, and of hand 

 weeding after the ^^^ 

 plants are up, on the 

 other. 



HARVESTING THE 

 BULBS. 



H 



Fig. 7. — Digging bulbs. 



Harvesting the crop 

 of bulbs is another 

 rather tedious opera- ^ - '^ 

 tion. (Fig. r.) Thus 

 far in tlie investiga- 

 tions of the Dejjartment of Agriculture this harvesting has been 

 purely handwork. The operator works on his Imees with a light, 

 short-handled spade. In the Netherlands a flat hand trowel is used, 

 a tool which is not servicea.ble in our heavier soils. The proficient 

 workman operates this with one hand and throws out the bulbs with 

 the other, while the novice requires both hands in using the tool, 



letting go with one to 

 pick up the bulbs. A 

 day's work in our 

 silty soils consists on 

 an average of about 

 four 50-foot beds a 

 day, and 60 to 75 per 

 cent more on loose 

 sandy soils. Tulip 

 bulbs are put into 

 small trays, which are 

 shoved along the 

 ground as the bed is 

 dug. These are emp- 

 tied into baskets or 

 directly upon screen shakers (fig. 8), which sift out the greater part 

 of the dirt. The bulbs are then transferred to the bulb house. Nar- 

 cissi and hyacinths, except the smaller sizes, are dug like tulips, 

 thrown into rows between the beds, and transferred to the bulb 

 house later. The time allowed them to dry in this way will depend 



-A homemade shaker used to remove loose dirt 

 from the bulbs after digging. 



