140 



THE BULB HOUSE. 



their sides, wliich will take up less room, and more effectually guard 

 them from damp, than if they were placed in the usual position. 



The young bulbs from seed should be planted in February or March, 

 the second year, and placed in a pit or frame, supphed ^ith water, air, and 

 light, in full abundance ; the soil should be Hght, but of the richest 

 description possible, viz., completely decomposed dung, a small poition of 

 light yellow loam, and about an equal portion of pure gritty sand. Every 

 attention should be paid to enable them to develope their foliage of a large 

 and fuU size, for on this depends the size of the bulbs. Some few bulbs 

 will flower the third year after this routine, but by far the greater part 

 will not flower till the fourth, fifth, and sixth year from seed. 



GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF BULBOUS-ROOTED PLANTS. 



The management of exotic bulbous-rooted plants is much less generally 

 known to gardeners, than the management of any other section of plants 

 whatever, if we except that of Orchideae. The whole art of cultivating 

 bulbs well, depends on the attention paid to two particular points, viz., 

 the season when they are put into, and the length of time that they 

 remain in a state of rest, and the perfection to which their foliage is 

 brought during the season of growth. The most rational period for 

 putting all bulbous plants into a state of rest, is soon after they have 

 flowered, and while their leaves are beginning to decay. It is extremely 

 injurious to take up any bulb, or even to destroy a single leaf, while it 

 is in a growing state, for it should be remembered that it is the leaves 

 which bring the roots to maturity, and prepare it for*flowering the fol- 

 lowing year. The loss of a single leaf may be the cause of a bulb not 

 flowering for a year or two afterwards. 



The length of time that bulbs should be kept out of the ground, or 

 kept in a state of rest, depends on their habits as to flowering. Some 

 kinds require one month, while others of the same genus may be kept for 

 three months in a state of rest without injmy. This is one of the many 

 points in gardening that practice and observation alone can teach. It 

 may be laid down, however, as a rule, from which there are very few 

 exceptions, that no bulb should be kept out of a state of growth after it 

 has once shovm symptoms of vegetation, nor should that vegetation be 

 impeded, in the shghte^t degree, from the period of its first commencement, 

 till the foUage is perfectly matured and beginning to decay. 



Bulbous-rooted plants require to be frequently taken up, to remove such 



