4 
CARL PURDY, UKIAH, CALIFORNIA 
tulips. ...... ;...,.■<! 
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 are 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. All 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. I fere is a cheap way of fencing them out. Use wire mesh described 
in catalogues as K->nch-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 
6-inch pot, four to seven. Plant 
so that the tip of the bulb pro- 
jects, 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 mod- 
erately, and do not give full sun- 
light, but let them come on 
slowly in a window or cool green- 
house. If brought into a warm 
room, the blooms will not open 
well. 
The Best Varieties to Pot. Any 
early single Tulip will do. Chrys- 
olora, Cottage Maid and Kei- 
zerkroon are especially fine. Late 
Shandon Bells and Golden Crown Tulips Tulips seldom do well in pots. 
