THE GREEN-HOUSE. 



227 



Those who keep bulbs on water are often at a loss 

 when to change it. There is no fixed time for this 

 purpose : the principle is to keep the water sweet and 

 pure. In a temperature of 45° or 48°, when the bulbs 

 are newly planted, this will be effected by changing 

 once a week : at 60°, and the glass nearly filled with 

 roots, the water will get putrid and show a muddiness 

 in two or three days or less, and whenever it does so 

 it ought to be changed. The operation of changing 

 is easily done by one person, when the roots are only 

 an inch or two long ; but after the flower-stems are 

 of some length, and the roots nearly at the bottom of 

 the glass, two persons become requisite ; one to take 

 out the bulb and hold it, and to dip its roots once or 

 twice in a vessel of clear water to clean them a little ; 

 and another to empty and rinse out the glass and refill 

 it with water. 



It is essential that the water used for renewal or for 

 rinsing the roots, should be of the same temperature 

 as that which it is to replace ; and this can easily be 

 done by keeping it a day or two in a room of similar 

 temperature, or pouring a little hot water into cold 

 water, and proving it with a thermometer. Whether 

 the water be hard or soft is of no great consequence, 

 but soft or rain water is considered preferable. 



Forced bulbs are seldom good for anything after- 

 wards. However, those who wish to preserve them, 

 may immerse them wholly in water for a few weeks, 

 and then having taken them up and dried them in the 

 shade for a few days, they may be planted in good 



Q 2 



