Starting Bulbs for Christmas — By Martha H. Clark 



A FEW RELIABLE BULBS THAT CAN BE GROWN IN THE DWELLING HOUSE FOR WIN- 

 TER FLOWERS — EXPLICIT DIRECTIONS THAT WILL BRING SUCCESS TO EVERYONE 



New 

 Hampshire 



I KNOW of nothing that will more 

 quickly and satisfactorily repay the 

 time and money spent upon it, than the 

 growing of winter-blooming bulbs. For 

 they not only bloom at a season when 

 flowers are a luxury, but they are so com- 

 paratively inexpensive, and, when properly 

 treated, so sure of results, that it is a pity 

 so many flower lovers feel deterred from the 

 pleasure that they might enjoy, through 

 the mistaken idea that "bulbs are so 

 difficult to grow!" There seems to be a 

 false notion embedded in the minds of 

 many housekeepers, that bulb-growing 

 necessarily entails elaborate paraphernalia, 

 combined with unavoidable dirt and dis- 

 order, out of all proportion to the results 

 gained. In reality, the opposite is true. 



The first requisite for successful bulb- 

 culture, is a cold dark corner where the 

 bulbs may be stored while they are making 

 root-growth. This may be in cellar, attic, 

 or any cold, unused shed where the tem- 

 perature will not quite reach the freezing 

 point, but where it will be cold enough to 

 prevent the tops of the bulbs from starting 

 into growth before the roots have developed 

 sufficiently. For, more than on anything 

 else, success or failure will depend on the 

 perfection of the root-growth made before 

 the actual "forcing" begins. In my own 

 case I have solved the problem as follows. 



In one corner of my cellar, as far removed 

 from the furnace as possible and directly 

 beneath one of the low cellar windows, I 

 have had a closet partitioned off for my 

 bulbs. This closet is six feet square, with 

 shelves, lining two sides, from the floor 

 to the ceiling. These shelves are all 



eight inches wide, and are spaced so that 

 there are seven inches left between them. 

 This little closet affords plenty of room 

 for about fifteen hundred bulbs, which is 

 the largest number that I have used in one 

 year. The bulbs are planted in either 

 boxes or pots, and stored in lines on these 

 shelves. They are then covered with 

 strips of burlap, as protection from the 

 light, This does away completely with 

 the dirt, and general unpleasantness of 

 burying the pots in coal-ashes as is so often 

 recommended, and the results have proved 

 equally satisfactory. The window is 

 covered with a curtain, made of two thick- 

 nesses of the burlap, and is left without 

 any other covering until zero weather sets 

 in. The bulbs of course are stored, keep- 

 ing those of a kind together, and are plainly 

 labelled with their names and colors. I 

 also try to keep those that are to be forecd 

 first, on the top shelves, as they are the 

 hardest to reach for the occasional water- 

 ing that is needed. 



The next requisite, in order of import- 

 ance, is the careful preparation of the soil 

 in which the bulbs are to be grown. If 

 you have been forehanded enough to have 

 kept a compost pile in your garden, con- 

 sisting of all garden debris of faded leaves, 

 stalks, sods, etc., mixed with occasional 

 donations of dressing, your problem is 

 easy. If you have no compost pile, but 

 are living in the country, a few wheel- 

 barrow loads of earth taken from a rich 

 hollow in your nearest woods, will prove 

 the best substitute you could find. If 

 both the above means are an impossi- 

 bility, the formula of one third part each 



of whatever loam you have, fine sand, and 

 leaf mold from your florist, will do equally 

 well. For the surest road to success, no 

 fertilizer whatever (except what is unavoid- 

 ably mixed with the compost pile) should 

 be included in the potting soil, but all 

 enrichment should be withheld until the 

 bulbs are brought up to the light for forc- 

 ing. More failure with bulbs is due to 

 decay, from the too liberal use of fer- 

 tilizers in potting soils, than to almost any 

 other cause. It seems to bring on a species 

 of plant indigestion, that results in anaemic, 

 spindly growth, if not total failure to 

 blossom. The best fertilizer for bulbs that 

 I have used, is a little bone meal dug into 

 the soil when the bulbs are brought up for 

 forcing, and weak applications of liquid ma- 

 nure while the flower-buds are expanding. 



The above are the two most important 

 points to be kept in mind. A few minor 

 details that it is well to take into con- 

 sideration, are as follows. 



Send in your lists of bulbs early as 

 to ensure your receiving your order 

 promptly in September, and also assure 

 you of first class quality of bulbs. 



Your bulbs should be potted immedi- 

 ately, and stored as soon as possible. 

 This will ensure the earliest being in blossom 

 by Christmas, and will facilitate a prompt 

 succession. In later planting, your space 

 for bulbs in your window-garden or con- 

 servatory, is apt to be crowded, by too 

 many bulbs demanding instant attention. 

 Only by early planting, can a good suc- 

 cession be depended upon. 



After storing, the bulbs should receive 

 a thorough watering, and the same at 



Getting a good root development before the top is started into growth is the secret of successful bulb forcing. Dutch hyacinths at A; Freesias at B; Polyan- 

 thus narcissus at C 



55 



