BULB GKOWING AT THE UNITED STATES BULB GAKDEN. 9 
would have entered into the production of the plant and flowers is 
used up in the production of baby bulbs. After scooping, the mother 
bulbs are put in trays and placed in the sun for about a day for the 
purpose of drying the freshly cut surfaces. (Fig. 7.) The trays are 
then placed in a propagating house where ventilation and light can 
be controlled (fig. 8), where a temperature of from 75° to 90° F. is 
maintained. Sometimes sand, ashes, or air-slaked lime are dusted 
over the freshly cut surface to assist in absorbing the moisture caused 
by scooping out the base of the bulbs before they are placed in the 
propagating house. The scales soon separate somewhat, callus, and 
produce young bulblets. If the mother bulbs are scooped soon after 
harvest (say at some time in July) and properly handled, they should 
produce a fine lot of baby bulbs by planting time in October. (Fig. 9.) 
Fig. 9. — Mother hyacinth bulbs that have developed an excellent crop of young bulb- 
lets. If properly handled, the mother bulbs at the time of planting should resemble 
the two bulbs shown above. 
The time required to mature bulbs by this method is from four to 
seven years, depending more or less upon the variety, the size of the 
bulblets, and the conditions under which they are grown. 
Scoring is the second most important commercial method of propa- 
gating hyacinths. By it fewer but larger and stronger bulblets are 
produced. On this account the smaller and poorer mature bulbs are 
generally selected for scoring. The process consists in making from 
two to four cuts across the base of the bulb, depending upon its size, 
and extending through to about its center. The fewer the cuts, as a 
rule, the fewer and larger the bulblets. (See fig. 4.) The process of 
scoring kills the flower and growing point, and the strength of the 
bulb that would have been used in producing a plant and flowers is 
utilized in the production of baby bulbs, the same as in scooping. 
9217°— Bull. 28—13 -2 
