816 



PRACTICE OF GARDENING. 



Part III. 



6501. Propagation of bulbous-rooted Jlowers. By offsets or by seed ; the whole, with 

 the exception of the cyclamen, and one or two others, are propagated by offsets, which 

 are to be taken off when the plant is in a state of rest, which happens in most sorts after 

 it has done flowering ; afterwards they are to be planted in a nursery-bed for one year, 

 and where they are finally to remain the year following. Autumnal-flowering bulbs are not 

 in a state of rest till the beginning of the following summer : as the colchicum, autumnal- 

 flowering crocuses, amaryllis lutea, and a few others. These, therefore, are to be taken 

 up when their leaves begin to decay early in summer, their offsets separated and planted 

 in the nursery-department, and the parent bulbs replaced in a month or six weeks, in 

 order that they may have time to establish themselves and flower before winter. 



6502. General culture and management. Bulbous-rooted flowers differ from others in 

 requiring in their cultivated state to be frequently taken up and replanted. Fibrous- 

 rooted plants vvhich grow much at the root, require this occasionally ; but almost all 

 bulbs frequently. The reasons are, that in deeply comminuted rich ground, most sorts, 

 but especially those which form their new bulbs beside the others, multiply so fast that the 

 bulbs become crowded, small, and unfit to send up strong flowers ; that many sorts, as 

 in narcissus, tulip, &c. which form their new bulbs under the old one, send down their 

 bulbs at last so deep that they at first come up weakly, and afterwards cease to appear at 

 all, as in the bulbous-rooted irises, colchicum, &c. ; and that some, on the contrary, 

 which form their new bulbs over the old ones, send them up at last above the surface, as 

 in crocus, gladiolus, &c. ; and are consequently killed by the frost or drought. Hence 

 the finer bulbs of florists require to be taken up every year, and all the border-bulbs at 

 least every three or four years. The time to do this is when the plant has flowered and 

 the leaves have begun to decay. No bulb should be taken up for any purpose, or injured 

 in its growth in any way while the leaves are green ; for it should ever be remembered 

 by gardeners, that it is the leaves which bring the root to maturity and prepare it for 

 flowering the following year. If these are injured or cut off, or if the plant is trans- 

 planted, imless with such a ball as not to touch any of its fibres while in a growing state, 

 the bulb will not recover so as to be able to flower for at least one year, and probably two 

 or three. The time for keeping bulbs out of ground depends on their habits as to flower- 

 ing. The object is to heal the wounds made by removing the offsets, and perhaps by 

 setting the bulb more completely in a state of rest, to render it more excitable when 

 planted. A month will in general be sufficient for this purpose, and more cannot be 

 allowed with safety to the autumnal-flowering bulbs : more than three months is more 

 likely to be injurious than useful to most sorts, though hyacinths, and other bulbs which 

 form articles of general conunerce, are frequently kept out of the soil half the year : 

 when planted so late, however, they seldom flower well the first season, and commonly 

 not at all for a year or two afterwards. The taking up, drying, and replanting of border- 

 bulbs must be attended to by the flower-gardener with equal regularity, though not 

 with equal frequency as the finer, select, or florists' bulbs : the offsets may be planted in 

 beds in the reserve-garden, if wanted for stock ; and the soil of the spot where the plants 

 stood in the border renewed according to its kind, and the flowering-bulbs replaced. 

 Some bulbs multiply so fast by throwing out offsets, that they soon cease to send up 

 flower -stems. Of these may be mentioned the ornithogalum umbellatum, luteum, and 

 some other species ; some species of scilla, muscari, iris, allium, oxalis, and others. 

 These should either be annually taken up, their offsets removed, and the parent bulb 

 replanted; or the offsets, as soon as they send up leaves, should be destroyed. Indeed, 

 whenever strong-blowing bulbs is the principal object, the offsets should never be al- 

 lowed to attain any size; but as soon as they indicate their existence by showing leaves 

 above ground, they should be removed with a blunt stick, or in any way least injurious 

 to the parent. By this practice a great accession of strength is given to the main plant, 

 both for the display of blossom during the current season, and for invigorating the leaves 

 to prepare and deposit nutriment in the bulb for the next year. In pursuance of the 

 same objects, every flower should be pinched off as soon as it begins to decay, but the 

 flower-stalk may remain till it begins to change color with the leaves. Some bulbs are 

 greedily sought after by vermin : as the crocus and tulip by the mouse and water-rat ; 

 the snowdrop and some of the narcissi by the snail and slug ; and the hyacinth by a 

 particular sort of grub- worm. We know of no method of mitigating these evils but by 

 catching the mice and rats, gathering the snails, and taking up, drying, and replanting 

 in fresh soil, the roots attacked by worms or insects. The snail is perhaps the worst of 

 these vermin, and, fortunately, it may be most effectually kept under, by scattering 

 leaves of the brassica tribe (of any variety) over the ground, and picking from them, 

 every morning, the snails which have fixed on them during the night. 



6503. Most bulbs force well ; to expedite this, retard the bulbs by keeping them in an 

 ice-house till the autumn of the second summer ; put them in water-glasses or pots in 

 September, and they will be in full blow by Christmas. 



