-£- 



2?ow, providing the bulbs are in mixed borders, after they are out of flower there is no further 

 concern for them but to let them mature and take care of themselves. On the other hand, if they are 

 in conspicuous beds on the lawn, after they are through flowering we must bear with them for awhile, 

 as they will be a little neglige. Let them alone, but after the foliage begins to ripen (known by its 

 fading and decaying) they can be carefully lifted and hid away in some sheltered place to finish 

 ripening, and the beds planted with whatever may be desirable. This -will bring us to about the 10th 

 of June ; or the bulbs may remain exactly as they grew, and beds of Coleus, Verbenas— in fact, any 

 plants— may be planted between the bulbs without any disturbance. After a week the foliage of the 

 bulbs can be cleaned off, when a little top dressing of bone meal or other good fertilizer should be 

 raked in by the hand or other implement. 



These are not all the styles of planting to which bulbs may be applied. One in which a most 

 effective display may be made with Crocus is to plant them in the grass, either indiscriminately or in 

 patterns, about the end of October, by simply digging out little holes with a table knife or other 

 narrow 7 instrument, to the depth of 2% to 3 inches ; then place a bulb in each hole, cover up. make 

 firm, and all will be finished. In the very early spring -the grass will be studded with flowers for 

 weeks, and when the time comes for the first mowing to be done the foliage will be sufficiently ripe to 

 allow of its being cut off without injury to the bulbs. The plantation will be permanent, lasting for 

 years, with an effective display recurring annually. 



The following diagram gives a 

 general idea of how deep, and how 

 far apart bulbs should be planted. 



GREENHOUSE SEEDS 



should be sown in pans, pots, or 

 shallow boxes, and be kept in the 

 house, carefully watched, slightly 

 watered occasionally, and shelter- 

 ed from the hot sun till strong 

 enough to transplant. Most var- 

 ieties may be sown 'at any season 

 of the year. 



The smaller seeds of Greenhouse 

 plants are sometimes difficult to ■ 

 germinate, unless great care be taken in the mode of sowing. Hence the supposition is produced 

 that the seed itself is not good, whereas the fault is not in the seed, but in the treatment. Fine seeds 

 of this description should be sown in leaf-mould or peat, with some fine sand added to it ; press firmly 

 down in the seed-pan or pot, and make perfectly level at the top, so that the mould may not afterward 

 sink materially with watering. Sow the seed very thin, and cover very lightly with a little compost, or 

 with silver sand. Success is more certain if a pane of glass is placed over the pan or box till the plants 

 have appeared, when it should be removed. By this method the difficulty of starting fine seeds will be 

 removed. As soon as the young plants have two leaves, they should be transplanted into similar 

 compost in another pan or box. To do this, do not pull them out of the seed-pan, but break up the 

 soil by running a stick or trowel under it, when the plants can be taken out -with good roots. After 

 transplanting they should be kept in a shady part of the greenhouse for a few days, and watered very 

 sparingly, until they are somewhat established in the new soil, when they may be removed to 

 the light. 



There are many minute plants from the finer seeds killed by drenching with water while very 

 young. One way to avoid this is to give the w r ater by dipping a clothes-brush in water, shaking off the 

 greater part of the water from the brush, and then (holding the brush over the seed-pan) drawing the 

 hand over the bristles several times, which will cause the water to be thrown on the young plants almost 

 like dew. Some of the vaporizers and atomizers (as used for perfumes) now in use are admirably 

 adapted for watering tender young plants. In the first stage of their existence, plants require moist- 

 ure in a minute quantity, often repeated, and not in such large quantities as to saturate the soil in 

 which they are growing. 



MARY E. MARTIN, 



Jericho Road, 



FLORAL PARK. NEW YORK. 



