CHILDREN'S GARDENS EVERYWHERE 



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Bulb Work for Schools 



JUST as soon as school opens it is 

 imperative to get to work potting 

 bulbs. If your bulb order is not filled 

 already, send it off at once. Previous 

 to this one must decide on the varieties. 

 Some bulbs respond to forcing, others do 

 better when held back. Chinese sacred 

 lilies, Roman hyacinths, Paper White 

 and Double Roman narcissus are of the 

 first class; while the crocus, tulip, Dutch 

 hyacinth and three of the narcissus — 

 namely, poeticus, Van Sion, and Em- 

 press — are of the second class, the slow 

 growers. 



Notice in the catalogues the terms potting 

 and bedding varieties. The bedding bulbs 

 are those intended for outdoor planting, 

 while the others are for indoor or pot 

 culture. It is well to buy some hyacinths 

 of the more expensive named varieties 

 which are rather more beautiful than 

 the bedding ones sold by color. Ger- 

 trude is a lovely pink hyacinth, Ida 

 yellow, Czar Peter blue and Robert Stei- 

 ger red. 



If you are to pot tulips buy an early 

 tulip. These are very successful for in- 

 door culture. They come on rapidly 

 when brought to the light and are less 

 prone to lice than the slower growing 

 varieties, which often develop lice and 

 are quite ruined before they come to 

 blossoming. 



Freesias, grape hyacinths, snowdrops and 

 the guinea hen flower, Fritillaria Meleagris, 

 are all worth trying. But the old stand- 

 bys are most satisfactory in the class- 

 room. 



A good light potting soil is needed. Do 

 not have any fresh manure in this. A good 

 loam, with an addition of about one-third 

 its quantity of sand, is a good mixture for a 

 bulb growing soil. Have the pots, pans 

 and boxes, which are to be used, per- 

 fectly clean. If it is difficult to accomplish 

 this rub them with clean white sand, 

 the sort used on the kindergarten sand 

 table. 



In potting place several pieces of drainage 

 material in the bottom of the receptacle. 

 Put in some pieces of charcoal for sweet- 

 ness sake. Over this place from one to two 

 inches of soil. Then comes a bed of sand 



BULB CULTURE FOR THE SCHOOL- 

 ROOM—HOW TO POT A BULB — THE 

 OUTDOOR BULB BED — METHODS OF 

 CARING FOR BULBS DURING THEIR 

 RESTING PERIOD — SUGGESTIONS FOR 

 THE CHILDREN ON PICTURE TAKING 



Conducted by 



ELLEN EDDY SHAW 



New York 



one-eighth inch thick. Upon this sand 

 bed the bulb or bulbs are placed. The 

 sand acts as a drainage layer conducting 

 the water away from the bulb. Otherwise 

 the water might gather about the base of 

 the bulb and decay would result. Next 

 place the bulbs. Do not allow one bulb 

 to touch another but leave only space 

 enough to avoid this. Over the bulbs 

 place the soil up to one-half inch distance 

 from the top of the pot. Hyacinths and 



When taking a picture of a plant, be sure to have 

 it the principal thing in the photograph 



narcissus may have their noses out of the 

 soil; other bulbs should be covered. 



Roman hyacinths, Chinese lilies and 

 other narcissus may be planted in sand. 

 Pour in water to saturate the sand com- 

 pletely. Keep sand always wet. The 

 noses of these bulbs should be out of 

 the sand. 



121 



Care of Bulbs 



V\7HEN bulbs are planted in stones and 

 * * water, in sand or in water, leave in 

 the dark until well started. Put charcoal in 

 the vessel to keep the water sweet. 



On the other hand earth-potted bulbs 

 need different treatment. These must be 

 put away in the dark and cold for six 

 to twelve weeks. Roots form slowly 

 and satisfactorily during this period of 

 resting. The place is the problem here. 

 Perhaps there is no nice cool, dark cellar 

 in your house. Perhaps it is impossible 

 to dig a trench of eighteen inches to two 

 feet in depth in your yard. You may 

 have no yard. Even in the face of these 

 misfortunes one may have bulbs. The 

 following method, used by the children of 

 The Ethical Culture School, in New York 

 City, may solve your problem. 



Some packing boxes were taken and 

 fixed up in this way: On the bottom 

 of each box was put a layer of sand four 

 inches in depth. If one has no sand, earth 

 may be used. Upon the sand foundation 

 the pots, pans and boxes of bulbs were 

 placed. Even a window box full of daf- 

 fodil bulbs was in one of the largest of 

 the packing boxes. Next six inches of 

 sand was filled in between and on top of 

 the pots of bulbs. Over this was a covering 

 of heavy wrapping paper to separate the 

 sand from the ashes, so the sand could 

 be saved and used again. Above this 

 ashes were filled in up to the top of the 

 boxes. This layer of ashes must be at 

 least one foot in depth : these children had 

 it two feet deep. Finally when the snow 

 came sacking was thrown over the boxes 

 which were kept upon the roof. They were 

 never touched until February when the 

 bulbs were brought into the schoolrooms. 

 And such bulbs as they were ! Not a single 

 one was lost! 



If the boxes are to be kept in the school 

 yard place them close to the building, some 

 protection against wind and storm. This 

 means no watering, no muss in the cellar, 

 no worry over Sundays. When the bulbs 

 are first brought to the light do not bring 

 them immmediately from nearly freezing 

 temperature into that of the average 

 living rooms. Keep them cool at first. 

 Gradually bring them to higher tempera_ 



