CROCUS AND EARLY SPRING FLOWERS 31 



lighted, the family sit about the table and read 

 and work — do crochet work and study the foreign 

 classics. Or perhaps examine pollen and plant 

 parasites with a microscope ; or play very sweetly 

 on the piano, which not infrequently is adorned 

 with a blue or crimson worked cover. 



There is not much to be done in the bulb gardens 

 in the winter, at all events during the frosts. The 

 land is put to bed, most of the bulb fields are 

 covered with straw or reeds, only those containing 

 the hardiest sorts, such as Scilla sibirica, Winter 

 aconite, and a few others, are left bare. This cover- 

 ing, which is of varying thickness to suit the bulbs 

 below, is not moved till the frost breaks and the 

 milder weather sets in. But when this happens 

 there is a good deal to do, for it has to be shifted in 

 accordance with the rise and fall of the thermometer : 

 partially removed if the weather keeps mild, else 

 the bulbs would develop too fast in the warmth 

 underneath ; replaced for cold nights, or if sharp 

 frost is likely. In early spring great attention has 

 to be given to this, for with sunny mid-days, sharp 

 night frosts, periods of prolonged soaking rain and 

 sudden nipping winds, there is much trouble in 

 suitably protecting and not over - covering th£ 

 bulbs. 



