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AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS May, 1907 



A Truck Load of Hyacinth Blooms on Its Way to the Waste Heap 



his largest hyacinth bulbs and sets these aside for the purpose 

 of increasing his stock. These bulbs are technically known 

 as "mothers," and in dealing with them one of two methods 

 is adopted — "crossing" and "scooping." In the case of the 

 former, the base of the bulb is cut across in four or five dif- 

 ferent directions with a sharp knife. In the latter instance 

 the whole of the root end of the bulb is scooped away, thus 

 leaving a circular cavity. Whichever process is adopted the 

 "mother" bulbs are carefully stored in a perfectly dry place. 

 Occasionally, to hasten matters they are put in a sunny posi- 

 tion. When most of the moisture has passed away from the 

 bulbs a strange thing happens. At the base of each "mother" 

 a number of tiny bulbils begin to put in an appearance; as 

 the weeks go by these increase very rapidly both in size and 

 number. With the advent of the planting season each 

 "mother," with all her offsprings attached, is placed out into 

 the ground, and as soon as the warm weather sets in the 

 bulbils commence to grow on their own account, every one 

 sending up a long green shoot. When the 

 usual time for harvesting the bulbs arrives 

 it will be found that the "mothers" have 

 well nigh rotted away, but in their place 

 are to be found several dozen little hya- 

 cinth bulbs. These are dried off and stored 

 away, there to await the autumn planting, 

 when they will take their places at the bot- 

 tom of the long row, to be moved up into 

 a fresh section year by year until they are 

 fully matured bulbs. 



The most arduous duties of the bulb 

 farmer consist in the annual lifting and 

 planting of the crop. Every bulb is taken 

 from the soil and replaced once in each 

 year. After blooming time, the first few 

 days of really warm sunshine soon cause 

 the green sap in the leaves of the bulbs to 

 begin its return journey to its underground 

 storehouse. When the crop is judged to 

 be in a ripe condition, small armies of 

 workers, picturesquely clad, attired in long 

 smocks and wooden shoes, sally forth to 

 the fields. One is struck by the complete 

 absence of digging utensils among the little 



companies. As a matter of fact spades 

 and forks are never used in the bulb rais- 

 ing operations, the whole business being 

 carried on entirely by hand. In the Dutch 

 fields the work is carried on with the great- 

 est ease. Stooping tovt^ard the ground, the 

 worker thrusts both his hands into the 

 loose sand and gently drags the bulbs from 

 the soil. As the crop is gathered in it is 

 removed to the storage barns. When all 

 the bulbs have been lifted from the ground 

 the grower finds himself in a curious posi- 

 tion. His land is so light and sandy that 

 he dare not leave it without a crop, other- 

 wise it will certainly be blown away. In 

 many instances it may not be very desirable 

 to plant other crops on the land, as th's 

 would impoverish the soil, and under such 

 circumstances it is not at all an unusual 

 thing for the farmer actually to plant 

 wisps of straw to hold the fields In position. 



Early in the autumn the bulb farmer 

 must set about the planting of his stock, 

 which has all the summer long been matur- 

 ing in the storage barns. Again the work is 

 accomplished entirely by the hands, and the 

 bulbs once more safely in the soil it is nec- 

 essary to take steps to protect them from the severe weather 

 to come. Winter in Holland means several months of hard, 

 biting frost, and to leave the bulbs exposed, even though 

 well covered with soil, to the rigors of the season would be 

 to court certain disaster. In order to prevent damage by 

 frost the surface of the fields is buried to the depth of five 

 or six inches with straw and other litter. At the approach 

 of more genial weather the mass of protecting material is 

 removed, and by this time it is likely that many of the bulbs 

 will already be sending up pale green shoots. Naturally 

 the different kinds of bulbs do not all flower at the same time, 

 but the display of bloom is at its height about the last fort- 

 night in April. At this time one may see hyacinths, the early 

 tulips, and narcissi blossoming literally in their millions. It 

 is not an easy matter to give an effective idea of just what 

 the fields look like in a photograph, although some of the 

 accompanying pictures, taken by the courtesy of Messrs. 

 Ant Roozen & Son, at Overeen, near Haarlem, may give 



In this Manner the Blooms are Gathered with Extreme Care 



