CHAPTER XVII 



BULB GARDENING 



Every rural and village school may have a bulb garden, 

 even though a small one. One of the first things to consider 

 is the kind of bulbs to plant. Tulips are perhaps the most 

 satisfactory if we are to have but one kind. Narcissuses, 

 crocuses, and hyacinths are good also and easily grown. 



The next question to settle is, where shall the bulbs be 

 planted ? If there is a walk leading from the schoolhouse 

 door to the road, then a long bed not more than two feet 

 wide may be made on each side of this walk. If the coal 

 shed stands in a suitable place a bed may be made at the 

 side or end of it. If there are shrubs on the grounds, 

 nothing is prettier than a bed of tulips, crocuses, or hya- 

 cinths blossoming with these as a background. 



An indoor lesson on bulbs should precede the planting. 

 If you have several kinds, compare them as to size and 

 shape. What is a bulb? Look closely at a tulip. It 

 resembles an onion. If we should cut it open we should 

 find that it is like an onion on the inside, made up of layers. 

 Can you tell which end will produce roots? What will 

 grow from the other end ? The bulb is really an under- 

 ground stem. Do you find any little bulbs (bulblets) 

 fastened to the large ones ? This is the way new bulbs are 

 formed. If these bulblets are set out they will not blossom 

 for two years. 



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