PRODUCTION OF GRAPE-HYACINTH BULBS 11 
used in these experiments, 3 feet wide and 42 feet long, should 
contain from 16,000 to 24,000 seedlings. The extent of the weed- 
ing, it will be readily seen, is in inverse ratio to the perfection of the 
stand obtained. 
It sometimes happens with this kind of seeding that culture, 
erosion, and weeding over portions of the bed interfere enough 
with the soil covering to expose some of the bulblets. This should 
be watched for, and where there is danger of exposure a few 
shovelfuls of earth should be scattered over the beds to give the 
necessary protection. Where these agencies have not operated to 
remove the soil the young bulblets actually work their way deeper. 
They have a special means to accomplish this in the large, succu- 
lent, contractile roots which pull them down into the soil so that 
normally there is no danger of exposure. In practice, however, 
under field conditions it is found that a little watchfulness on this 
point is necessary. 
The plants can be expected to be at maturity the third year, al- 
though some flowers may be seen the second season under the best 
cultural conditions. Well-grown seedlings can be marketed at the 
end of the second year of growth from the seed beds, but usually 
another season's culture is necessary. 
PRIME DIFFICULTY WITH GRAPE HYACINTHS 
So prone is this group to disease that it is common to get bulbs 
in imperfect health from Europe. The storage rots of the plants 
are not confined to this genus but are reported to pass readily to 
the closely related garden hyacinth. On account of this danger the 
European grower of hyacinths, it is said, will seldom attempt the 
production of grape hyacinths. The cause of the disease is a Sclero- 
tium, commonly considered to be a Botrytis, forms of which cause 
fire in tulips and damping-off in seedlings of many plants. 
In its most prevalent form this disease is easily recognized as a 
web of white mycelium which mats the bulbs together on poorly 
aerated shelves or in the pack and finally causes the formation of 
sclerotia smaller than a seed of mustard. These are white at first, 
but pass through various stages of brown to black when mature. In 
the soil the same white mycelium and occasionally the sclerotia may 
be found. The disease spreads from a focus of infection and usually 
takes most of the plants as it advances. Soil once infected should 
be planted to other than bulb crops for two or three j^ears. It is 
a peculiar fact that plants which persist in such an infected area after 
two or three years of neglect may exhibit no trace of the diseased 
condition. 
There is no known approved remedy for treating this disease, but 
preventive measures are efficacious. Care in drying the bulbs so that 
no sign of mold occurs and growing a new generation from seed 
whenever the stocks become infected or there is doubt about them 
are the precautionary methods indicated. 
The difficulty of detecting the disease is also a serious matter for 
the grower, because well-grown stocks of these species if poorly 
handled seem to develop it. It is claimed that less trouble is found 
with the health of these bulbs when they are handled on a permanent- 
