FALL, OR HOLLAXD BULBS. 



37 



potting it is only necessary to fill the pot rather loosely 

 to the brim, and press the bulb down, so that only about 

 one-fourth of it appears above the soil. The pot should 

 then be struck smartly on the bench to give the soil 

 the proper degree of firmness, leaving it, when fin- 

 ished, about an inch or so below the rim of the pot. 

 Then water freely to still further settle the soil. The 

 pots should then be placed where it is cool and dark, 

 which will encourage a strong development of roots, 

 before the bud starts to grow at the top. Such a situa- 

 tion can be made by covering up the pots with four or 

 five inches of sand in a cool cellar, under the stage of a 

 cool greenhouse, or in a sunken pit, in each case covering 

 with sand or leaves, so as to exclude heat and frost, for it 

 must not be forgotten that a strong development of root 

 can only be had at a low temperature, say from forty to 

 fifty degrees, and any attempt to force them to make 

 roots quicker by placing them in a high temperature, 

 will most certainly enfeeble the flower. If we will only 

 observe how nature points out to us this necessity, we 

 will see how safe it will be to follow her. In all hardy 

 plants, the roots in spring, (when the temperature is 

 low), form the rootlets before a leaf or flower is devel- 

 oped. To show the bad effects when this is not the case, 

 take a root of any of our hardy lilies and plant it in 

 March, and take a similar bulb and plant it in May ; it 

 will be found that the early planted bulb that had an 

 opportunity to slowly develop its roots before there was 

 heat enough to start the top, will give a finer growth and 

 finer flower than the bulb that was planted in May, and 

 run up into growth before it had an opportunity to 

 sufficiently push its roots into the soil. The culture of 

 all the bulbs before named, in pots, is the same as that of 

 the Hyacinth, only the Narcissuses and Tulips should be 

 planted three or four in a six or seven-inch pot, and Cro- 

 cuses ten or twelve in a pot. All these bulbs may like- 



