November, 1908 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



VI 1 



or whenever they may be had of the florist, 

 until late December. As it takes six weeks 

 to two months to bring the bulbs into bloom 

 one can easily decide when they must be 

 potted to bring them into bloom at a special 

 time. Usually one will wish them for 

 Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter, and any 

 social or anniversary event between whiles. 

 The graceful custom of giving gifts of flowers 

 on Thanksgiving is one to be encouraged, and 

 there is nothing better for the purpose than a 

 pot of hyacinths or narcissus, enveloped in 

 dainty crepe paper or an inexpensive jarde- 

 niere, but no hint of costliness should accom- 

 pany such a gift. 



For the invalid or shut-in, the mother bur- 

 dened with many cares or the professional 

 woman who has no time to cultivate flowers 

 for herself, but will greatly enjoy the pot of 

 fragrant blossoms on her desk, and most of 

 all the kindly thought which sent it, there is 

 nothing more desirable. 



Any good garden soil may be used, but a 

 compost of leaf mold, fibrous loam and sand 

 is, perhaps, the most congenial to this class 

 of bulbs, but after all the soil is of secondary 

 importance, as it is heat and moisture which 

 forces the flower bud, which is already stored 

 away in the bulb and only waiting to be 

 forced upward by the roots, that counts. 



In potting bulbs single bulbs of narcissus 

 or hyacinth may be planted in four-inch pots, 

 or three bulbs in an eight-inch pot. This 

 gives more results, but the smaller pots are 

 easier to handle. Two inches of broken char- 

 coal should be placed in the bottom of the 

 pots and a little sphagnum moss on top of this 

 to prevent the earth sifting down in the drain- 

 age material (the charcoal) and clogging it. 

 The pot should then be filled to within an 

 inch of the top with the soil and jarred down 

 by tapping the bottom on the hand. It should 

 not be packed with the hand, and a hole 

 should be made for the bulb deep enough to 

 allow just the tip to appear above ground. 

 The bulb should not be pushed down into 

 the soil, as this would pack the earth hard 

 beneath it, and the roots in starting would 

 push the bulb up out of the ground, but with 

 the earth loose and soft beneath them they 

 can enter it without disturbing the bulb. 

 After potting, the pots should be thoroughly 

 soaked with water and all surplus water al- 

 lowed to drain off. Each pot should be 

 plainly and indellibly marked with the name 

 of bulb and date of potting, and set away in 

 a dark place in the cellar to make roots. If 

 the cellar is infested with rats it will be well 

 to place a box on a hanging shelf or other safe 

 place, otherwise they may go anywhere that is 

 convenient. 



They should be examined occasionally to 

 see that they are not becoming dry. They 

 should be kept moist, not wet, and at the end 

 of six weeks the roots should be examined 

 by turning the pot upside down on the hand 

 and tapping it against the edge of a table, 

 box or similar object. If the ball of earth 

 is found well covered with roots and a flower 

 bud has made its appearance above ground or 

 healthy looking leaf growth, the pot may be 

 brought up to the warmth and light above 

 stairs to be forced into bloom. But if little 

 or no root growth has been made the bulb 

 must be returned to its place until sufficient 

 root development has been made, examining 

 it from time to time to note progress. 



When brought upstairs, a warm, sunny 

 window will usually bring them forward 

 quickly. Occasionally they will need more 

 heat and may be placed, for a time, over a 

 register or radiator, or on top of the warming 

 oven of the kitchen range. I have sometimes 

 forced forward buds which seemed inclined 

 to blast by setting them directly on top of the 

 furnace and keeping them very wet. As the 



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1 1 70 BROADWAY, NEW YORK CITY 



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