BULB BARNS, NAMES, AND GROWERS 105 



of course, more than one, the number and size vary- 

 ing in proportion to the gardens. Those of the 

 little men are sometimes rather makeshift places, 

 wherein, at other times of the year, other things 

 are kept and the true character of a bulb barn some- 

 what lost. The true character is, pre-eminently, 

 orderliness ; seen at perfection a bulb barn is, in 

 its own way, as typically Dutch as a hyacinth, it is 

 the perfection of order and system, and yet some- 

 how cosily human too. Round the sides of the 

 great barns there are shelves with upturned edges ; 

 down the centre is a stand, or two stands with an 

 aisle between, if the barn is very large, and these, 

 too, are all shelves or trays, tray upon tray nearly 

 to the roof. Against the walls there are light 

 ladders, easy to move when the upper trays have to 

 be reached. In the corners are heavier and longer 

 ladders leading to the stories above — when there 

 are any, as there often are in the bigger barns. 

 Here the bulbs are brought, sorted according to 

 kind and size and quality ; here they accumulate 

 from early June, when the snowdrops and aconites 

 are brought in, on through the summer months till 

 all are harvested and the barns are full, wonderful 

 quiet stores of waiting life. 



Many of the bulb barns have windows, herein 



14 



