BULB GROWING AT THE UNITED STATES BULB GARDEN. 11 
The beds are then covered with 3 or 4 inches of litter (straw or 
grass) for protection during the winter. In the spring this litter is 
usually raked off ; sometimes it is left as a mulch. During the grow- 
ing season the plants are kept free from weeds. The beds are fre- 
quently inspected for sickly or diseased bulbs. If any are observed, 
they, with about 6 inches of the surrounding soil, are removed and 
burned. In the spring the truss of the flowers is pinched out just 
about the time they are coining into full bloom. By this treatment 
the strength of the plant that normally is used in the development of 
the seed is forced into the development of the bulb. The stronger 
and larger the bulbs, other things being equal, the better the results 
from scooping and scoring. The bulbs are mature about June, and are 
then lifted and, when properly dried in the field, placed on shelves 
in a well-ventilated bulb house to cure. 
This process requires from four to six weeks, depending somewhat 
upon the condition of the bulbs, the weather conditions, and the at- 
tention given to the details of the work. When properly cured the 
old roots and dry scales are rubbed off and the bulbs graded into 
firsts and seconds for scooping and scoring. 
In the spring of 1912 officials of the Bureau of Plant Industry per- 
fected a power machine for scooping mother bulbs. (See fig. 6.) 
In order to test the effect of machine-scooped compared with hand- 
scooped hyacinth bulbs, one half of the mother bulbs intended for 
scooping in 1912 were hand-worked and the other half machine- 
worked. 
A careful inspection shows that the hand-scooped bulbs are some- 
what smoother and cleaner cut and the scales more widely separated 
from each other than is the case with the machine-scooped bulbs. It 
remains to be seen, however, whether the yield of bulblets is in- 
fluenced by these conditions or whether a larger amount of disease 
develops in the machine-scooped bulbs, owing to the fact that possibly 
disease can not be so readily detected in the mother bulbs when using 
the machine as when the work is done by hand. The use of machin- 
ery for this work is interesting, and if the results are satisfactory 
will mean the saving of considerable time where large quantities of 
bulbs are to be scooped. On account of the comparatively small 
number of bulbs that would be scooped, however, even when bulbs are 
extensively propagated, the time saved in scooping would not com- 
pare with that which might be saved by the use of machinery in 
harvesting, cleaning, grading, etc. 
The scooped and scored mother bulbs, when in proper condition, 
are placed in trays or on shelves in the propagating house. (See 
Fig. 8.) 
