104 ^ THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 



to disappoint the beginner without previous experience to 

 guide him. Though the bleeding heart (Dicentra spccfabilis) 

 is not a bulb, attention may be called to the fact that autumn 

 is the proper time to set specimens of it in some sheltered 

 corner. This plant is a spring blooming species, but its smaller 

 relative, Dicentra eximia, will produce its small pink hearts 

 throughout the summer. In planting bulbs, they should be 

 set in a light, well drained soil in a spot where the spring 

 sun will find them. It will be w^ell, also, if they have some 

 protection from the cold north winds of early spring, though 

 this is not a necessity. During the winter the bulb bed should 

 be covered several inches deep with dead leaves, coarse stable 

 manure or other litter and this covering should not be re- 

 moved in spring* until the bulbs insist on pushing up through it. 



Home Bulb Growing. — The term ''Holland bulbs" has 

 been so much used that we have almost unconsciously assumed 

 that the Dutch are the only people who know how to grow 

 bulbs, or else that their part of the w^orld is the only one with 

 climate and soil favorable enough to allow such plants to come 

 to their best. At the same time, those wdio have planted any 

 of a dozen kinds of narcissus have seen them multiply and 

 spread into large clumps. Many of the common bulbous plants 

 appear to be as easily grown in America as anywhere else. 

 Gladioli, tuberoses, narcissi and lily-of-the-valley, at least ap- 

 pear to do well almost anywhere, and we are beginning to find 

 out that other bulbous plants heretofore regarded as more diffi- 

 cult to handle can be successfully produced at home by some 

 slight attention to their wants as regards soil and climate. A 

 promising industry in this line has been begun near Bellingham, 

 Wash., and we are likely soon to grow most of our bulbs in this 

 country. 



