COMMERCIAL, DUTCH-BULB CULTURE. 



19 



In the work of the Department of Agriculture at Bellingham, tulip 

 bulbs are placed in boxes, which are moved along by the digger. No 

 effort is made at this time to get rid of the dirt. About a bushel of the 

 bulbs are then shaken lightly in a homemade shaker which has a quar- 

 ter-inch wire-mesh bottom (see fig. 8), and the loose dirt is thus re- 

 moved. After drying, the bulbs are taken from the shelves to 

 tables and picked over by hand. This process consists in breaking 

 the clumps of bulbs apart and removing the old scales and bases. 

 Of late, much labor has been saved by passing the bulbs over a 

 5 -centimeter to T-cen- 

 timeter screen before 

 hand picking. All the 

 smaller loose bulbs 

 and some scales and 

 dirt are thus elimi- 

 nated. These bulblets 

 are then passed 

 through a blower 

 (fanning mill), when 

 they are ready for 

 planting, the large 

 bulbs and clumps (fig. 

 11) being the only 

 ones worked over by 

 hand. This simple 

 device of sieving out 

 the smaller sizes re- 

 duces the handwork 

 in cleaning tulips 

 nearly one-half. The 

 sieves used are made 

 of parchment, and 

 the blower is padded 

 w^ith canvas to protect 

 the bulbs. Extreme care is necessary in all of these operations lest 

 the bulb be bruised. 



Narcissus bulbs, except the smaller sizes, which go into the bulb 

 house immediately on being dug, are thrown into windrows, allowed 

 to dry a few hours, and then covered with debris to j)revent injury 

 from the sun. Later they are sieved, like the tulips, and placed in 

 the bulb house or in open sheds on trays or shelves. After the roots 

 are dry the bulbs are worked over by hand to break the clmnps apart. 

 In some cases the roots are pulled off also, but it is questionable 

 whether anything is gained in taking time for this. There was a 

 time when the narcissus bulbs which were imported into this cOun- 





Fig. 11. — Bulbs of a T>arwia tulip, showing a normal 

 reproduction of two flowering bulbs and four smaller 



ones. 



