18 BULLETIN 1270, TJ. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
absence of a flower, which can usually be plainly seen at planting 
time. This is the test of the novice, however, rather than that c-f the 
experienced bulb grower. The latter knows quite accurately when a 
variety has reached the size to flower, and he also knows that a bulb 
will flower when it reaches that size. The experienced grower knows 
without sacrificing any bulbs whether they have flowers in them. 
The only point for which he needs an examination is to determine 
whether the flower has been killed by bad treatment. This can be 
determined only by dissection. 
The fact is that a daffodil bulb which has been grown with approxi- 
mate decency has a flower in it when it has reached flowering size 
as certainly as a normally developed pod has peas in it. 
At the time of digging, however, unless the digging is delayed, it 
is not commonly possible to see the flower with the naked eye. It 
develops within a few weeks, depending upon the temperatures in 
storage, and by the last of August it may be a half inch or more 
long. If the bulbs are held at low temperatures it may not develop 
much for two or three months. 
DIFFERENCE IN COST OF VARIETIES 
The method of sizing and planting designed to get an even distri- 
bution of plant material on the ground has been given in detail on 
another page. The larger the bulb the more space must be given to 
it for development. As an illustration, the planting stock of Empress 
is very large and must be set 7 or 9 and none over 14 bulbs to a 
row, while the planting stock of Pheasants Eye in these experiments 
in 1919 was all set 21 bulbs to a row. In both of these cases mer- 
chantable stocks were produced in two years. In the case of Empress 
planted 9 to a row the turn off could not have been more than 9 
bulbs in 1921, but in the case of Pheasant's Eye it was 21 bulbs or 
more, or two and one-third times as many. Many comparisons of 
this kind are possible. The fact that a variety produces a large bulb 
makes it comparatively expensive to grow. 
Another cause of expense in varieties is paucity of reproduction. 
Desirable varieties which reproduce slowly must be high priced in 
comparison with those which give abundant increase. The white 
trumpet Madame de Graaff reproduces abundantly, while Peter Barr 
is shy with its offspring and is also a larger bulb. The latter, if for 
no other reason, must remain high priced, while the former is a cheap 
bulb. To the average individual Madame de Graaff is also pbout as 
desirable a flower. 
SPECIAL ITEMS 
VICTORIA SPLITS 
[nstead of dividing and making a large bulb 10 centimeters or more 
in circumference by the division of the mother bulb, Bicolor Victoria 
will rather frequently divide into a large number of what are some- 
time- called ring splits or "horse teeth." Eighty or more bulblets 
are sometimes formed from a single bulb. What really happens in 
tin- excessive propagation is a division of the bulb scale's into numer- 
ous flat or angled uncoated bulblets (fig. -2). Netherlander usually 
advise thai Such bulbs are " weakened " and should he discarded. 
