Soil and Culture 41 
The full and perfect effect In the bulb 
garden should not be expected the first 
season after planting; the second year 
should bring it, howe er, and there should 
be undiminished glory from then on, for 
four or five years, or until crowding be- 
low ground begins. This crowding will 
reveal itself in diminished bloom and less 
rugged flowers — and these are the sum- 
mons from below to dig up and divide 
and thin out. Snowdrops and all nat- 
uralized bulbs, wherever they may be, may 
be left untouched for decades, to be^sure, 
but even these suffer from lack of elbow 
room after a while. 
If the second season after planting, 
however, does not show finer returns than 
the first, if there is any falling off rather 
than a gain, then something is wrong. 
Deterioration so early as this, before 
there is a possible chance of crowding, is 
a sign of uncongenial location or soil, or 
of unhealthy bulbs — if the previous 
year’s ripening has not been interfered 
