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PLANTED FOR SPRING BLOOM. 



After October 20 in this latitude, the summer bedding- 

 plants will no longer be an ornament to the garden. Old 

 ones should be pulled up, and the long, or straggly ones 

 chopped up and put away to mix with leaves for the pro- 

 tection of the bulbs during winter months. After the bed- 

 ding-plants are taken off, the beds are raked over and cov- 

 ered with about 4 inches of thoroughly decomposed stable- 

 manure and spaded in to the depth of 6 or 7 inches. If 

 the fertilizer is placed at that depth, the bulbs will do 

 better, and great care must be taken to mix it all through 

 the soil, as leaving it in heaps here and there through 

 the beds will cause the bulbs to grow unevenly. 



After spading, the beds are left rough for a week or 

 more, to allow the soil to sweeten up and foul air to pass 

 o£f. They are then neatly raked over and marked for 

 the reception of the bulbs. I plant hyacinths three in- 

 ches below the surface of the bed and five inches apart ; 

 tulips two inches deep and four inches apart; crocuses 

 one inch deep and three inches apart. 



When the bulbs are all planted, let the beds remain 

 uncovered until the ground is well frozen. This pre- 

 vents rats, mice and moles from burrowing in the beds, 

 which they often do without the owner becoming aware 

 of it until he discovers his loss. I have followed this 

 precautionary practice for years, and have always suc- 

 ceeded in keeping these troublesome little animals out of 

 the beds. Many people insist on covering the beds im- 

 mediately after planting, and there is just where they in- 

 vite failure. Let it be understood that it is not alto- 

 gether cold that we must guard against, but more the 

 sudden thawing and freezing, which is highly injurious to 

 the buibs. When the beds are frozen, they should be 

 covered over to the depth of four inches with leaves, 

 straw, salt-hay or sawdust, and the covering left on until 

 the second week of March. Then, as it thaws out, the 

 covering can be removed by degrees. Through the 

 winter it is well to see that whatever material we have 

 used for protecting the bulbs is not blown off by strong 

 winds ; in such cases the beds need more covering. 

 Should this point be neglected, the bulbs will send up 

 weak and feeble flowers. 



BULBS FOR VASES. 



Thousands of vases standing upon lawns remain empty 

 all winter. They might be filled at small cost with either 

 hyacinths or tulips, and thus add a charm and cheerful- 

 ness to the home in early spring. In planting vases with 

 bulbs, be sure they have perfect drainage. Let there be 

 openings sufficiently large to allow a free escape of water 



at the bottoms of the vases. Over these openings place 

 two or three inches of broken crockery or charcoal, and 

 next a layer of moss or shavings, to keep the soil from 

 clogging the drainage, in which case the earth in the 

 vase would soon become sour, and the bulbs diseased. 



Soil for bulbs to be grown in vases should consist of 

 equal parts of thoroughly decomposed horse-manure, 

 turfy loam and fresh-water sand. The bulbs can be 

 planted two or three inches apart, so as to form a good, 

 solid mass of bloom. Protect the vases with four inches 

 of clean straw, put some bagging over the straw to keep 

 it in place, and tie it neatly around the stems of your 

 vases. Uncover the vases at the time recommended for 

 uncovering the beds. When the bulbs are in bloom 

 they need water at least twice a week Be sure to soak 

 the soil thoroughly, as the plants, when in flower, de- 

 light in plenty of moisture at the roots. They will also 

 need staking. Galvanized wire of sufficient strength to 

 keep the flower-stalks in place is much neater and better 

 than sticks, and will last for years, if put away carefully 

 when the bulbs are out of bloom. 



When bulbs in the vases have ceased flowering they 

 can be taken up, placed in some shaded spot, and lightly 

 covered with soil. If no such spot is convenient, plant 

 them in a sunny one and shake a little straw over them, 

 taking care that it does not lie heavily atop. After a 

 rain it should be shaken up to admit air and prevent rot- 

 ting. When their leaves have all dried up, clean the 

 bulbs off nicely, place them in bags or boxes and set 

 them in some cool, airy place until needed again for 

 planting in the fall. 



Careful attention to details in bulb-culture will always 

 repay the gardener. Dutch bulbs need not " run out" 

 in our American soil and climate, if we tend them care- 

 fully and sensibly. Indeed, commercial bulb-growing is 

 being undertaken in a number of the southern Atlantic 

 states, and glowing reports of success come from the 

 bulb-farms there. Some of these localities probably 

 will soon be as famous for fine tulips, hyacinths and nar- 

 cissus as Long Island is for superior gladioluses. It is 

 argued that our home-grown bulbs are less subject to 

 disease than imported ones, that there is little climatic 

 change to bewilder them and impede their growth, they 

 can be sold at more popular prices, and are as solid and 

 heavy as those that come from old Holland. What 

 is there that we cannot do better, or grow better in 

 America than anywhere else, if we only try ? 



Brooklyn. John A. Boyle. 



