October, 1913 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



107 



Conducted by Ellen Eddy Shaw 



An Experiment in Bulb Culture 



IN The Garden Magazine of October, 1907, 

 there was an interesting account given of how 

 the author had worked out a plan for a continuous 

 bloom of bulbs from Christmas to Easter. The 

 article read thus: "Here is a dollar collection of 

 bulbs that gave one amateur flowers every day 

 without a break from Christmas to Easter." Then 

 this little time table followed: 



Chinese lilies bloomed from Dec. 23 to Jan. 12 



Double Roman narcissus bloomed from Jan. 13 to Jan. 23 



Grand Soleil d'Or narcissus bloomed from Jan. 22 to Feb. 13 



Crocus bloomed from Feb. 7 to March 12 



Van Sion narcissus bloomed from March 7 to March 25 



Princess Marianne tulips bloomed from March 23 to April 9 



Two fifth grades in the Ethical Culture School, 

 New York City, were planning for their fall work 

 in bulb culture. They read over this list and 

 immediately the question was raised, "do you 

 suppose we could make a list like this work out on 

 time." So it was decided to try this as an experi- 

 ment with the above table as a basis for the plan. 



Certain problems arose; because of these prob- 

 lems partly unsolved, this is worth trying by other 

 boys and girls at school, or at home. Some of 

 the problems which came to these Ethical Culture 

 School boys and girls as they did their work were 

 the following: first the time element, both as to 

 how long must one allow between bringing the 

 bulbs to the light and the blossoming and also the 

 length of time of the bloom; second, the best 

 combination of bulbs to use. 



It may be of help to hear just how this worked 

 so if you try the experiment this fall you may 

 profit by this experience. Do try it and let us 

 know your results. For the past two years it has 

 been tried in this school as a fifth grade problem, 

 and will be worked at again this year since it is 

 not satisfactorily worked out yet. The class 

 leaving the fifth hands over its results to the 

 entering class. 



In the beginning these children were told that 

 they might have two dollars and fifty cents of the 

 school funds to spend on this experiment. This 

 sum need not be greater than the original experi- 

 menter's sum, or it might easily be less. 



Now came the work of selecting varieties. The 

 classes wished to try some hyacinths. So they 

 were told that Roman hyacinths bloomed before 

 Dutch ones. They were also told that it was 

 possible to force Roman hyacinths into bloom for 

 Christmas. If tulips were selected the early 

 blooming ones were recommended. 



Then the children studied bulb catalogues. One 

 child found out that it paid to buy excellent named 

 varieties of Dutch hyacinths. On this as a recom- 

 mendation the class risked one whole quarter buy- 

 ing a Jacques New Holland hyacinth. They found 

 the results bore out the statement. 



The bulb order for Grade V, A and B, read as 



follows: 



\ doz Chinese lilies $ .50 



1 pink Charles Dickens Dutch hyacinth .... .15 



1 Prince o Wales Dutch hyacinth .15 



1 Jacques New Holland hyacinth .25 



1 doz. early rose colored Roman hyacinth .... .40 



1 doz. Due Van Thol Scarlet tulip 35 



1 doz. Hero crocus .20 



1 doz. single Von Sion narcissus .35 



2 doz. paper white narcissus .15 



$2.50 



The work of ordering and bill making was a 

 part of the arithmetic work of the grades. This 

 list as you see differs a little from the original one. 

 The time table of blossoming dates reads as follows: 



Chinese lilies, Dec. 20 to Jan. 15 



Paper white narcissus, Jan. 15 to Jan. 22 



Early rose colored Roman hyacinths, Jan. 22 to Feb. 5 



Hero crocus, Feb. 5 to Feb. 12 



Prince of Wales Dutch hyacinth, Feb. 12 to Feb. 10 



Prince of Wales Dutch hyacinth and Charles Dickens, 

 Feb. 12 to Feb. 19 



Due Van Thol tulips, Feb. 19 to March 5 



Van Sion daffodils, March 5 to March 14 



Jacques New Holland hyacinth, March 14 to April 4 



Then came the potting. The method of doing 

 this was carefully discussed. Chinese lilies were 



Plant some bulbs in the window box and bury 

 the box outdoors. This picture shows the stage of 

 growth the tops should be in before they are 

 brought indoors and to the light 



The ideal way of planting bulbs in a box. Pro- 

 vide ample drainage over the holes in the bottom, 

 cover this with wet moss, and set the bulbs at the 

 same depths as you would if planting outdoors. 

 Bury it in the garden until roots are well de- 

 veloped. Set each bulb carefully on its base 



to be planted in pebbles and water; the Dutch 

 hyacinths were planted in separate pots by Grade 



V A, and in hyacinth glasses of water by Grade 



V B; the Roman Iryacinths went in pans; the 

 tulips in pots; and the crocus and narcissus in 

 flats or low boxes. 



Bertram Schmit of this class describes how they 

 planted bulbs as follows: 



We thought it would be a nice idea to have a continuous 

 bloom of flowers in our class room, so we ordered bulbs. This 

 is how we planted them. We first put broken flower pot in 

 the bottom of our pots, pans and boxes for drainage. Then 

 we added charcoal to sweeten the soil. Next came the soil 

 with a little sand bed upon which to place the bulbs. This 

 sand drains the water away from the base of the bulbs and so 

 decay is prevented. Then we covered our bulbs over with soil. 



After the planting the vessels of bulbs were 

 placed in a large packing box on the open gym- 

 nasium roof. The bulbs of course might have 

 been stored in a dark, cold place inside the build- 

 ing. This school has no such place. 



The method of preparing such a box is the 

 following. The packing box was lined through- 

 out with a heavy wrapping paper. The first year 

 the lining was not put in the box and some of the 

 bulbs placed close to the sides and ends of the box 

 were frost bitten. Over the bottom of the box 

 was placed about four inches of sand. Soil or 

 ashes could be substituted for this. Then the 

 potted bulbs were placed on the sand bed and over 

 and about these more sand. After this the box 

 was filled with coal ashes. This layer should be 

 eighteen inches in depth in the North, at least. 

 In very cold weather heavy paper or rugs should 

 go over the top of the box. In country schools 

 where ground space is available, dig a trench just 

 wide enough to receive the pots and eighteen inches 

 to two feet in depth. Put the potted bulbs in this 

 trench and cover with ashes. 



It was rather of a nuisance the first year to keep 

 packing and unpacking the box in order to get the 

 proper pots out at the right time. This last year 

 smaller boxes were used and marked with the dates 

 for unpacking. These time facts were handed on 

 for the benefit of the next class. They had al- 

 lowed three weeks from time of bringing into class 

 room until the time of bloom. The tulips and 

 Roman hyacinths started to bloom in two weeks. 

 The narcissus and crocus came out on time while 

 the Dutch hyacinths were behind time. This 

 would differ with the amount of root system de- 

 veloped and the vigor of the bulb. 



The Chinese lilies were brought out of the dark 

 closet immediately after Thanksgiving. These 

 were only just starting to bloom at the beginning 

 of the Christmas holidays. Grade V A left be 

 hind this message to its successors, "you had better 

 not try Chinese lilies for Thanksgiving and Christ- 

 mas recesses spoil the experiment. We recom- 

 mend that you try continuous bloom from January 

 first to Easter." 



Grade V B says, "do not risk your hyacinths 

 in water, for they did less well than those which 

 were potted in soil." 



The crocus were not very satisfactory although 

 they bloomed on time. Both classes agree on plant- 

 ing narcissus in masses; the Roman hyacinths and 

 tulips in pans, four or six bulbs to the pan; and 

 potting the Dutch hyacinths in single pots because 

 of the large flower spikes of the named varieties. 



This is an experiment for several years' work. 

 The time from the bringing in to the time of bloom 

 should be kept carefully, also the number of days 

 each kind of bulb continues its bloom. These are 

 valuable facts. Try this and let us know your 

 results so next October these may all be published. 



First grade children planting and labeling. 

 Bulbs are the best things for beginners in garden- 

 ing because they are easily handled and the result 

 with ordinary care is sure 



