SELECT BULBS FOR FALL PLANTING 5 
TULIPS, continued 
of manure an inch deep and cover with an inch and a half of soil. Set your bulbs 3 or 4 
inches apart each way, and then cover them gently with top-soil. Proceed in this way 
until the bed is planted, and then level with the remaining soil. As the bulbs are about 
2 inches high, this will give them a cover of about 3 inches of soil. Do not use any 
manure that has not gone through the first heating. In cold soils, plant an inch shallower. 
If the soil is heavy, put some sharp sand around the bulbs. 
Watering. During the winter and early spring, give only enough water to keep 
the bed moist; usually the rain is ample. As soon as flower-buds appear, water liberally 
until a few weeks after the flowering is over and then dry them off. 
Digging the Bulbs when Ripe. A Tulip bulb is ripe when the leaves turn yellow. 
There is no need to wait until they arc entirely dry. Late Tulips can be left in the 
ground from year to year, yet this is not the best practice, as they form many off- 
sets and soon become crowded. Then the roots of trees and shrubs are apt to encroach 
on the bed, and annual planting allows one to cut them out. Still again the soil must 
be annually enriched if the best results are to be had, and cultivation to a good depth 
is a distinct advantage. 
Method of Storing. .Ml that is needed is to put the bulbs in bags or boxes in a dry 
place, and leave them there until proper planting time. 
Gophers. Like the poor, they are always with us, and they like Tulips. In my 
gardens, with a frontage of a mile, we control them by trapping. It is hard to poison 
them in a garden because there is so much good food, and they store away the greater 
part of what they take. Some soft food, like carrots, parsnips, green corn or raisins, 
with strychnine, is the best method of poisoning. 
Gopher Fences. Here is a cheap way of fencing them out. Use wire mesh described 
in catalogues as >£-inch-mesh poultry fence, 30 inches high. A ditch 30 inches deep is 
dug, the netting stood upright in it, and the soil then worked down on both sides and 
packed. A gopher very seldom goes below this depth, or runs along the top of the 
ground. For most purposes the gopher fence answers well. 
Tulips in Boxes. If gophers are numerous, the bulbs can be planted in boxes 8 
inches deep, with soil as indicated. The boxes should be watered liberally, even in winter. 
Tulips in Pots for Winter 
Bloom. The best time to pot is 
in early fall. The best soil for 
potting is a compost of two parts of 
garden loam to one part of well- 
rotted cow manure, and one part 
of sharp sand. Use 5- or 6-inch 
pots, and first put in some broken 
pieces of crock with a little loose 
material to insure good drainage. 
For a 5-inch pot, use three to 
five bulbs, and for a ()-inch pot, 
four to seven. Plant so that 
the tip of the bulb projects, and 
water moderately. Put in a cool, 
dark place for five or six weeks 
until they are well rooted. This 
can be told by gently striking 
the side of the pot until the soil 
will slip out. If the pot is filled 
with a mass of roots, the bulbs 
are ready to bring to the light. 
Water moderately, and do not 
give full sunlight, but let them 
come on slowly in a window or 
cool greenhouse. If brought into 
a warm room, the stems will be 
quite short, and blooms will not 
open well. 
The Best Varieties to Pot. Any 
Golden Crown Tulips (see page 8) 
Early Single Tulip will do. Chrys- 
olora, Cottage Maid and Kei- 
/erkroon are especially fine. Late 
Tulips seldom do well in pots. 
