A Few Practical Hints on Bulb Culture. 
Proper Condition of Soil. — Only plant bulbs, when the ground is in a nice friable condition, and never 
■when the soil is wet and sticky. Better plant later in good friable soil, than early in wet saturated ground. 
Preparing Ground for Bulbs. — After digging or trenching, the ground should be allowed to settle at 
least ten days before planting. If planted on freshly trenched ground, as the land subsides, the bulbs will be 
drawn down below their proper depth. 
Depth to Plant.— Many amateurs have a tendency to plant too deeply, and thousands of bulbs are de- 
stroyed annually by too deep planting (crocuses especially suffer from this error). A good general rule to follow 
is, cover the bulb with soil once and a half to twice its own depth but not more, measuring the bulb from its base 
to its shoulder. Thus a daffodil bulb measuring two inches from base to shoulder should be covered with three 
to four inches of soil, and a crocus bulb measuring one inch in depth with only one and a half to two inches of soil. 
Proper Time to Plant and Best Position. — Information on this subject is given at the heading of 
each family. Amateurs frequently fail with many bulbous plants through planting at the wrong season, thinkin" 
that because September is the proper time to plant crocuses, all other autumn bulbs should be planted in the same 
month, whereas such families as Anemones, Ranunculi, Ixias, Sparaxis, Early Gladioli, &c. should not be 
planted before end of October or November at the earliest ; if planted in September they are almost sure to be 
a failure. 
Manure for Bulbs. — All bulbs object to the ammoniacal properties of fresh manure, consequently hot or 
fresh stable manure should never be used to dig in the ground for bulbs, but only well-decayed stable or cow 
manure such as the material from an exhausted hot-bed (chicken manure is dangerous for bulbs, being too full 
of ammonia). The safest manures for bulbs of all description, outdoors, is Phytobroma (price 2or. per cwt. ; 
2s. 6 d. per 7 lbs.), pbosphatic basic slag (price ror. 61 1 . per cwt. ; is. per 7 lbs.), or crushed bones (price iqj. per 
cwt.; is. 3 if. per 7 lbs.). The Phytobroma should be applied at the rate of 8 cwt. per acre, or 3 oz. per square 
yard, early in spring, when top growth is showing ; phosphatic basic slag and crushed bones should be put in 
ground with the bulbs at the time of planting, the former at the rate of 1 ton per acre, or 7! oz. per square yard, 
and the latter at the rate of 4 cwt. to the acre, or ik oz. to the square yard, and after planting, sprinkle on the 
surface of the ground sulphate of potash at the rate of 2 cwt. per acre or f oz. per square yard (price 21 s. per 
cwt., is. 9 d. per 7 lbs.). On hot dry and sandy soils, old stable manure may with advantage be used, but simply 
to act as a sponge to hold moisture in the soil ; it should be dug in 15 to 18 inches deep, so as not to come in 
■contact with the bulbs. 
Bulbs in pots should have a surface dressing of ■ Phytobroma ' when showing top growth and again when 
in bud (see page 2 of cover). 
Top Dressing.— Where possible, we advise a top dressing to all bulbs through the winter months with 
some light material such as long straw litter, cut heather, cut furze branches, &c. , or cut fern bracken resting on 
pea sticks (cut fern used by itself lies too wet and is apt to rot the young growths). The advantage of this 
light covering is that it keeps the surface soil sweet by preventing the heavy autumnal rains from beating down 
the earth’s crust ; it also protects any early top growth. 
CULTURE FOR EARLY BULB FORCING. 
Pot the bulbs 3 to 6, or more according to size, in a 4- or 5-inch pot, barely covering the bulbs with soil. This 
should be done during August, September, and October, the pots being placed out of doors on a bed of ashes, 
and covered over with a few inches of cocoa-nut fibre or ashes. There let them remain for a period of three 
months at least until the bulbs are well rooted , and have made a little top growth, when a few pots at a time 
should be removed to a cold frame and be kept partially shaded for a day or two, after which they should be 
removed to a moderately warm and moist temperature, a plentiful supply of water being then given to the roots. 
A successional supply of flowers can thus be maintained from November to February. It is a good plan when 
the bulbs are removed from the plunging bed to place an inverted flower-pot over them for a day or two to 
prevent any check to the young top growth from draughts. 
BARR’S Selected Bulbs & Roots for Early Forcing. 
PAGE 
. 10 
,. 50 
ALLIUM neapolitanum 
ARUM Lily. See Richardia 
■CHINESE Sacred Lily, ‘Good Luck Lily' of 
China and Japan, ‘Flower of the Gods,’ and 
‘Water Fairy Lily' 
•CHIONODOXA, The Glory of the Snow 18 
CHRISTMAS Roses. See H cllcborus 29 
DAFFODILS for Forcing. See Daffodil Catalogue. 
DEUTZIA gracilis 23 
DICENTRA (syn. Dielytra), Lyre Flower 
EUCHARIS, The Amazonian Lily 
FREESIAS, Sweet-Scented 
CALANTHUS Elwesii, Elwes' Giant Snowdrop ... 
,, Ikarise, a lovely new Snowdrop 
HELLEBORUS niger maximus. The Giant 
Christmas Rose 
HYACINTHS, Exhibition Varieties 
•» Early Dwarf Roman, White, Blue, 
Blush and Straw-Coloured 33 
IRIS persica 37 
,, reticulata, The Violet-Scented Iris 37 
JONQUIL, Single Yellow, i 
,, Double Yellow, f deliciously scented 33 
LILIUM longiflorum Harris!!, The Bermuda 
Easter Lily 41 
48 
robustum, succeeding Har- 
„ page 
LILY of the Valley. Barr’s Extra Selected 
Berlin Crowns 45 
,, ,, Barr’s Extra Strong established 
Clumps 45 
MILLA uniflora, for associating with Hyacinths, 
Tulips, &c 46 
,, ,, violacea 46 
NARCISSUS Polyanthus Paper White 47 
*, ,, Double Roman 48 
,, ,, Grand Soleil d’Or 47 
„ „ ‘Scilly Isles,’ White 47 
,, ,, ‘ Chinese Sacred ’ 48 
NARCISSUS (Daffodils) for Early Forcing. See 
our Daffodil Catalogue. 
PHILADELPHUS (Mock Orange) 49 
POLYGONATUM, Solomon’s Seal 49 
RICHARDIA africana. The Lily of the Nile 50 
,, ,, Little Gem 50 
SCILLA siblrica, to associate with Giant Snowdrops 
and Chionodoxas 51 
,, ,, var. taurica, a fortnight earlier 
than above 51 
SNOWDROPS. See Galanthus 25 
SPIRA2A Japonica, The Japanese Meadow Sweet 52 
,, palmata, Rosy Crimson 52 
,, astilboides 62 
TULIPS, Due Van Thol, and other Early Forcing 
Varieties 
54 
risii in time of flowering 
For Barr's Special Mixture of Cocoa Fibre and Charcoal, also Jadoo Fibre, for growing Bulbs in, see p. 68. 
A 
