48 Making a Bulb Garden 
replant them where the earth is not likely 
to dry out or bake around them during 
the heat of summer. Even with all their 
leaves intact, they cannot store what they 
cannot get; soil that is too poor to af- 
ford the necessary nourishment will 
hinder development quite as surely as the 
loss of leaf prematurely. But it is sel- 
dom that any soil is so poor as this; I 
mention it only as a possibility rather 
than a probability. 
Field mice work havoc sometimes, eat- 
ing the bulbs where they lie in the ground. 
There is really nothing to do but start 
over when this happens, for these are 
elusive little beasts; but it is not likely 
to happen if the mulch of dry litter which 
all bulbs are better for having, is not put 
on until the ground is thoroughly frozen. 
The mice burrow into the litter for their 
winter quarters, and naturally go right 
on down into the ground for their food if 
a supply lies so conveniently near— and 
the ground is yielding enough to be tun- 
