THE FLORAL IVORLD 



5 



HOW TO PRODUCE CHOICE BULBS. 



Experience is very costly. Choice 

 bulbs are also costly. But they are 

 worth the cost, when we consider the 

 rich blooms and great amount of 

 pleasure they give. The question 

 with many is: "How can we prevent 

 that degeneracy which they so soon 

 fall into?" 



First, prepare the soil in the best 

 possible manner. Plant the bulbs in 

 rows, putting a layer of well-rotted 

 cow manure in the bottom of each 

 trench. Cover this with good garden 

 loam. Mulch with leaf mold or well- 

 rotted manure. Bulbs should be taken 

 up every year, for if allowed to re- 

 main longer they will foul and break 

 into small increase. Experience as 

 well as science teaches us that almost 

 all flowers confined too long to the 

 same earth and same spot (I was go- 

 ing to say the same air) degenerate 

 and dwindle away. A change in all 

 three respects is often requisite to 

 renovate, as it were, their crescive 

 faculties and to insure their return to 

 their prestine health and condition. 



Just think of the millions of dollars 

 that we ship each year to Holland, 

 Bermuda and the Sicilly Islands for 

 bulbs! I am sure that there are gar- 

 dens and farms in this bright, beauti- 

 ful, productive land that will produce 

 bulbs equal to those of any land, if we 

 give them the same care and culture. 

 Let us then plant and care for our 

 plants in the best possible manner. 

 And care for the bulbs first by cut- 

 ting off the flower stalk as soon as 

 through blooming, never allowing the 

 leaves to be removed until dry. The 

 health, strength and size of the bulb 

 for the succeeding year depends upon 

 its storing up a proper amount of sap, 

 which you will in a great degree pre- 

 vent by cutting off the leaves when in 

 a green state. Care is also requisite 

 in drying the bulbs thoroughly with- 



out sun-scalding. Lay them away in 

 shallow boxes one bulb deep, covered 

 with one ^nch dry sand. This 

 means a great deal of work, but you 

 will be richly paid in magnificent 

 blooms and coin for bulbs, beside the 

 pleasure afforded your friends and 

 neighbors. 

 California. John Hooper. 



CARE OF VARIOUS PLANTS. 



Geraniums for winter should be pre- 

 pared in spring and roots not disturb- 

 ed in fall. They need small pots. I 

 had one bloom last winter in a two- 

 inch pot. I have three and four-inch 

 pots for geraniums and begonias for 

 next winter. House plants need good 

 drainage and frequent showering of 

 foliage. Begonias, palms and ferns 

 do not want a south window. They 

 need a cool, moist atmosphere. Set 

 them on a tray of tin or galvanized 

 iron, filling with wet sand, or keep a 

 dish of water evaporating in the 

 rooms, preferably on the stove. 



Calla and amaryllis should rest in 

 summer, and have plenty of sunshine 

 and water in winter. Water should 

 be warmed before being applied to 

 plants in winter. 



Cactus rests in winter and makes 

 its growth in summer, when it should 

 be plentifully supplied with water and 

 sunshine — the lobster-claw varieties 

 excepted. 



Palms and begonias require but lit- 

 tle water in winter. 



Umbrella plant thrives with its pot 

 kept in a pan of water, or planted out 

 in an aquarium. 



Hyacinths, after blooming, can be 

 ripened off and set out in the garden, 

 and will bloom there each spring. 



Never wet nor crown Chinese prim- 

 rose leaves. 



Illinois. Mary Andrews. 



Keep seeds in wooden, not metal 

 boxes. It will help' prevent moisture. 



