30 BULLETIIs^ 797, V. S. DEPARTMEISTT OF AGRICULTURE. 



succeeding admirably when handled in this way. The bulbs are set 

 with a dibble, trowel, or mattock. Usuallj'-, if time permits, it is bet- 

 ter to remove the sod and give the ground a good digging, and, if 

 naturally poor, fertilizer deeply incorporated is added. Eegarding 

 fertility it may be said that good garden soil is well adapted to the 

 narcissus, but one will commonly succeed better in lean soil than 

 with one loaded up with manures. Under the latter condition bulbs 

 are likely to decay, even though the manure may be what is com- 

 monly termed "well rotted." We in this country have not yet ac- 

 quired the habit of spading our ground two spades deep, as they do 

 in foreign countries, thus putting our manure 3 to 6 inches below 

 the bulbs. This kind of treatment on lean soil would furnish ideal 

 conditions for the longevity of narcissus bulbs. 



Narcissus beds and borders will usually improve if left alone until 

 about the third or fourth year and then will deteriorate gradually. 

 In gTass where they have greater competition with other vegetation 

 the multiplication is not so rapid and the crowding of the progeny is 

 longer deferred, and if the variety is well adapted to this treatment 

 it does not occur at all. Crowding can also be delayed by planting 

 bulbs of the smallest size that will flower. The commercial bulbs 

 of the second size are very suitable, but under no condition should 

 double-nosed bulbs be bought if intended for permanent plantings. 

 The narcissus in grassy places must be left undisturbed each year 

 until the foliage begins to turn color well in the first half of June, 

 then mowing can take place. The grass will have headed out by 

 this time, and it will be necessary to go over it with a sharp scythe 

 before the mower will do good work. 



Better success usually will be had with tulips and hyacinths if 

 they are lifted each year at the time the foliage matures. If sec- 

 ond or third sized bulbs are planted, however, they will give good re- 

 sults the second year and will be satisfactory even the third year, 

 while occasionally they are reported as successful even longer than 

 that. Usually, however, tulips and hyacinths should be lifted each 

 year. With the tulips, as with lilies and crocuses, there is the added 

 danger from mice, which are very fond of the bulbs and destroy 

 quantities of them when left semipermanently. There is much less 

 danger from this source when the ground is thoroughly dug, thus 

 destroying the runways of the mice in the autumn, and the bulbs are 

 dug again in June. 



In formal beds it is usually necessary to remove the bulb crop 

 after flowering, in order that other bedding plants may be inserted. 

 Commonly the bulbs are rooted out and thrown away, but this prac- 

 tice is simply another wasteful American habit that should be dis- 

 continued. The bulbs should be carefully lifted with as little injury 

 as possible to roots and leaves and heeled in in some good situation, 



