| FOR BOTH AMATEUR AND PROFESSIONAL j \ PUBLISHED MONTHLY ON THE FIRST OF THE { 
j GROWERS OF THE GLADIOLUS, DAHLIA, IRIS, ETC. f 1 MONTH BY MADISON COOPER, CALCIUM, N. Y. I 
Tulip Growing in America. 
[ IV ritten expressly for The Flower Grower . ] By Willard N. Clute. 
T HE impression is widely prevalent 
that only the Dutch and Belgians 
can successfully grow Tulip bulbs 
for the market. Almost as 
often as the bulb season 
comes around we are told 
that it is unprofitable to 
plant the old bulbs. The 
inference always is that if 
one would have a really fine 
display of flowers in the 
spring, he must annually 
secure a new stock of bulbs 
from across the water. It 
has long been assumed that 
there is something in the 
soil or climate of the Nether- 
lands that is absolutely 
necessary to the production 
of really good bulbs, but 
this now appears to be only 
a pleasant bit of fiction de- 
signed to keep up the mar- 
ket for " Holland bulbs ” 
without doing any particu- 
lar injury to anybody. As 
a matter of fact, the Tulip 
is not a native of North 
Central Europe and is prob- 
ably no better adapted to 
that region than it is to 
many another. The main 
condition for producing 
satisfactory bulbs seems to 
be a light and well drained 
loamy soil. With such a 
soil and proper cultivation, 
Tulips may be grown over 
a very large area in the 
North Temperate Zone. 
Just as good or better 
Tulips are now grown in 
America as ever came out 
of Holland. Many years 
ago it was demonstrated 
that fine bulbs could be 
grown in New York State 
and in recent years they 
have been grown on a com- 
mercial scale in various 
other places on both coasts. 
Even in the dry air of the prairie 
regions they reach a perfection that 
would be hard to excel. While a light 
loam is probably best suited to the 
plants, they are, after all, not very 
particular as to soil, provided it is rich 
and well cultivated. A sandy loam 
tends to give bright, clean, and highly 
colored bulbs, but bulbs grown in other 
soils, while not quite so attractive in 
appearance will produce flowers as 
fine. 
The Tulip belongs to that 
great class of plants whose 
high tide of life is in the 
early spring. As soon as 
the ground is thawed, they 
begin to push up their 
leaves and soon after the 
flowers — formed almost a 
year in advance — a p p e a r . 
The seeds are quickly rip- 
ened and then all the plant 
parts above ground wither 
and disappear, often before 
mid-summer. Not only do 
the plants dispense with 
their aerial stems and leaves 
during the greater part of 
the year, but they actually 
throw off their roots, also, 
and all that remains of the 
plants is the chestnut-col- 
ored bulbs which may now 
be dug up, sorted, moved to 
new locations, or stored in a 
cool dry place until autumn. 
With the advent of cooler 
weather the bulbs put out 
new roots and must be re- 
turned to the soil. They 
grow more or less during 
the cold season if the ground 
is not frozen and in spring 
are, therefore, ready to 
push up as soon as the frost 
is out of the ground. 
The growing of Tulips 
for market is a relatively 
simple matter. Stock is in- 
creased by means of the 
bulblets that form about the 
mother bulbs each season. 
These bulblets are planted 
out in good soil in autumn, 
being set three or four in- 
ches deep and about as far 
apart as is customary in 
planting onion sets. The 
larger specimens are in- 
clined to bloom the first year, but if 
good strong bulbs are desired such as- 
[ Continued on page 8. ] 
