24 PIOTOniAL PR AC TIG AL BULB QUO WING, 



top, and anything reasonable in the way of artificial heat will be 

 promptly and satisfactorily responded to. To place the newly potted 

 Eomans directly into heat does not necessarily imply failure, but 

 simply that one cannot be so sure of success. As the plants advance 

 for flowering, they must have regular supplies of water, with liquid 

 manure according to their requirements, making certain that they 

 have ample food at all times, or the spikes, which compared with 

 those of the Dutch Hyacinths are never very large, will be almost 

 too small to be of material value, unless the bulbs were especially 

 fine. 



Where abundance of Hyacinths and N"arcissi are wanted for 

 cutting purposes, pots should not be employed, as far more produce 

 can be secured from the same amount of space and attention by 

 putting bulbs into shallow boxes, such, for example, as those which 

 are commonly used for the reception of cuttings when large numbers 

 have to be struck. It is not absolutely necessary to make auy pro- 

 vision for drainage, though it is advantageous to have four or five 

 holes burnt in the bottom of the box, over which some rough 

 drainage can be placed, so as to make everything as favourable for 

 the bulbs as possible. These may be put quite closely together in 

 the boxes, but ought not to touch each other if it can be avoided. 

 They can be placed in the dark or not, according to convenience, 

 as their life is so short that the fact of the roots being some- 

 what limited in quantity does not seriously affect the quality of 

 the spikes. The motto with Eomans in boxes is a short life and 

 a merry one. Tulips and Xarcissi may be treated in a precisely 

 similar manner, and will prove equally as satisfactory. The 

 former, however, whether in pots or boxes, will require consider- 

 ably more water than the other, if the very finest results are sought 

 for. 



Time of Potting. — The period at which the bulbs are potted 

 varies with the time that they are wanted to flower, and it is always 

 desirable to give as much grace as possible, as it is far easier to 

 retard the plants a little than it is to hurry them unduly at the last 

 moment. From August-potted bulbs of Romans there should be 

 no difficulty in having good flowers in November, and successional 

 pottings or boxings, as the case may be, will provide plenty of 

 spikes until well into the new year. Van Thol Tulips will advance 

 at about the same rate, but Narcissi must be allowed a little longer, 

 as when pushed too hard they are prone to go blind after the buds 

 are formed. Dutch Hyacinths are procurable in September, and 

 may be potted at once, or kept to a more convenient time, up 

 to December, when all should be got m without further delay. 

 The ideal time is probably the middle of October, but each grower 

 must exercise his own judgment, and pot so as to have the plants in 

 bloom when they are likely to be of the greatest use to him. Some 

 people have taken to deferring the potting until well on in January, 

 but this is really too late, though it is not actually imperative, 

 as was considered years ago. that every bulb should be potted 



