746 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER- 
October 14. 
NOTES FROM THE RURAL GROUNDS 
Time for Bulb Planting. —Most home 
gardeners will doubtless agree that some 
of the pleasantest work of the year is 
concerned with the care of the various 
hardy Spring-flowering bulbs, including, 
of course, the selection and purchase -of 
new varieties. The planting season is 
now with us, the Autumn catalogues have 
been out some weeks, and the early-rip¬ 
ening species, such as the Crocus, Nar¬ 
cissus or daffodil, tulip and hyacinth are 
ready for delivery. A few species, in¬ 
cluding most of the hardy lilies, will not 
be ready until November. The early 
bulbs above named should be planted at 
the earliest convenience, as they are not 
improved by keeping out of the ground 
too long, and thrive best when well 
established by reasonably early planting. 
October is a very suitable mouth to get 
them in the soil. Unless special bedding 
effects are wanted hardy bulbs give as a 
rule best satisfaction when planted in 
groups in the herbaceous border or in 
protected places near shrubbery about the 
lawn. Choose where possible a dry or 
well-drained situation, not in the shade or 
drip of trees or buildings; dig the soil 
deep—a foot in depth is good, but 18 
inches is far better—throwing the top 
soil to one side, while the subsoil is be¬ 
ing well loosened, then return the top 
soil to the bottom of the excavation, set 
the bulbs at the proper depth, and fill in 
'with rather light sandy soil, even if the 
latter must be brought from a distance. 
Manure is seldom needed, and usually 
does more harm than good. The germs 
of the coming flowers are already formed 
in the bulbs, and are little benefited by an 
excess of plant food in the soil. Nourish¬ 
ment is best supplied by a Winter mulch 
or by working a dressing of fine old ma¬ 
nure or quick acting potato fertilizer in 
the soil as soon as growth appears in the 
Spring. Fresh animal manures in contact 
with the bulbs often cause decay, and 
should not be used. Elaborate diagrams 
of the proper depths and distances apart 
to plant the various bulbs are given in 
many catalogues and horticultural publi¬ 
cations. They are very useful if at hand, 
but usually based on foreign experience, 
and give the depths at less than is often 
advisable for our severe climate. If the 
covering soil is light lilies are best plant¬ 
ed eight to 10 inches deep and 12 or 
more inches apart; Narcissi, six to eight 
inches deep and six to 10 inches apart; 
hyacinths, same depth as Narcissi, but 
not more than eight inches apart for best 
effect; tulips five inches deep and four 
to five apart. The smaller bulbs, such as 
jonquils, snowdrops, Crocuses, Scillas and 
Chionodoxas, about four inches deep and 
two to three inches apart, the depths in 
all cases to be counted from the top of 
the bulbs. Some discretion is needed in 
placing the different varieties, as the 
dwarf-growing early tulips may be plant¬ 
ed closer together and somewhat shallow¬ 
er than the tall-growing late kinds. Ex¬ 
perience has taught us that bulbs winter 
better and are likely to give more satis¬ 
factory blooms if planted at these depths 
than shallower in the latitude of New 
York, provided, of course, the soil is 
free from standing water. If planted in 
sticky or heavy soil we would rather 
cover with pure sand than any soil that 
is likely to bake, but light garden loam is, 
after all. the best covering. 
Planting in Sod.—A very practical and 
effective method of planting flowering 
bulbs is to place them in groups or col¬ 
onies in the grass about the yard or 
lawn. They look best somewhat in the 
background, though the dwarf-growing 
kinds are suitable for any situation. Cro¬ 
cuses, Scillas and snowdrops may be scat¬ 
tered on the sod in drifts or informal 
groups and put in by punching a hole of 
the required depth with a section of 
broomstick and mallet, dropping in the 
bulb, taking care the base is down, and 
filling up with sandy soil. The hole is 
sufficiently closed by an edgewise blow of 
the mallet. The new Crocus corm forms 
on top of the old one, bringing the plant 
nearer to the surface each year, so that 
this species cannot be depended on to 
make a show for more than two or three 
seasons, but we have groups of Scillas, 
Chionodoxas and snowdrops, planted this 
way nine years ago, that have gained in 
strength and beauty each season. Tulips, 
hyacinths and daffodils, however, appre¬ 
ciate more care when planted in sod. Hav¬ 
ing determined the location of your group 
or colony, peel up the sod with a sharp 
spade and lay it on one side, dig out the 
top soil, throwing it temporarily . in a 
wheelbarrow or on a piece of bagging to 
avoid marring the turf, and loosen deeply 
the subsoil, working in a moderate dress¬ 
ing of bone dust and wood ashes, or a 
good chemical fertilizer; replace some of 
the top soil, bringing it to the needed 
depth, and set in the bulbs, grouping them 
in an irregular manner similar to natural 
growth rather than precisely spacing them, 
and fill up with the same or lighter soil, 
replacing the sod after mounding up 
slightly to shed water. The sod forms a 
most natural and excellent Winter pro¬ 
tection. It may be removed just before 
the shoots come up next Spring, and the 
bare place covered with a piece of poul¬ 
try netting laid flat if there is danger of 
fowls or dogs scratching or the sod may 
be left in place, assisting any weak shoots 
that find difficulty in coming through. 
Bulbs planted in this way need little at¬ 
tention. but usually bloom magnificently, 
increasing in effectiveness yearly for many 
seasons. Grass will eventually cover the 
place, even if the sod is first removed; 
it should not be cut until the bulb foliage 
begins to fade, which is an additional rea¬ 
son why groups of the taller flowering 
bulbs should be placed somewhat out of 
the way. 
Selection of Varieties. —A bewilder¬ 
ing number of varieties of the favorite 
bulbous species are offered in the cata¬ 
logues. The high-priced ones are not al 
ways the best; novelty and the rate of 
increase of a given variety has more to 
do with price than its horticultural excel¬ 
lence. Narcissus bulbs are quoted all the 
way from $1 the hundred to $210 for a 
single bulb of a scarce novelty. The 
cheaper and commoner sorts are most sat¬ 
isfactory for garden use; the choicer and 
costlier varieties for window and pot cul¬ 
ture. We may safely say, after careful ex¬ 
amination of the Autumn catalogues, that 
all offered are good and worth the little- 
attention required. The descriptions 
given by reliable dealers are accurate and 
truthful. Make your selection to suit 
your individual taste and purse, keeping 
as a rule to the older and less expensive 
varieties, so that you may have more of 
them. Order early and get all procura¬ 
ble kinds in the soil as soon as possible. 
Many bulbs have great powers of endur¬ 
ance, and will stand much abuse, but 
thrive best when not unduly kept out of 
the soil. 
Good Bulbs Worth the Price. —The 
growing of really good flowering bulbs 
costs much in time, labor and skill. First- 
class bulbs are worth all they cost to the 
home planter. A much higher grade is 
now imported than formerly. Purchases 
made from reputable dealers may be 
counted on for good results under ordi¬ 
nary treatment, but the culls and trash 
offered as “bargains” late in the season 
by department stores and sensational cat¬ 
alogues are seldom worth planting. Make 
your selections from the best accessible 
sources and plant at once. 
The “Garden Huckleberry.” —Seeds 
of a form of Black nightshade, Solanum 
nigrum, were offered last Spring by a 
few seedsmen under the name of “Garden 
huckleberry.” with the statement that the 
fruits, which are freely produced, were 
excellent for pies and preserves. In some 
cases the botanical name was given, but 
in other descriptions there was little clue 
to the real nature of the plant, and many 
customers evidently bought it for an eas¬ 
ily grown huckleberry or blueberry- sim¬ 
ilar to the very popular wild fruits known 
by those names. Several clusters of 
fruits have been sent in by readers of 
The R. N.-Y. with inquiries as to their 
edible qualities. A typical specimen is 
shown in natural size in Fig. 218, page 
743. The Black nightshade is a variable 
species growing in many countries of the 
northern temperate zone. It is usually 
found in the form of a low-growing 
branching weed, favoring moist and shady 
places, but responding to cultivation in 
any garden soil. The flowers are white 
and quite small. The black berries or 
fruits vary much in size. The illustrated 
cluster is evidently a large-fruited kind. 
It is a relative of the potato, tomato, pep¬ 
per and egg-plant family and has no re¬ 
lation to the Vaccinium or true huckle¬ 
berry, but belongs to the poisonous 
group of Solanums, though the berries are 
not only harmless, but edible, when 
cooked. Black nightshade berries have 
long been grown in France under the 
name of Morelle, from the resemblance 
to black cherries. In the south of Europe 
the leaves are occasionally used as greens 
just as we cook pokeweed or Phytolacca 
shoots for the same purpose. The poi¬ 
sonous qualities of many plants are driven 
off or neutralized by heat. In Dakota 
the Black nightshade is often called stub¬ 
ble berry, as it grows freely in wheat 
stubble. The fruits have been consider¬ 
ably used there in the absence of better 
things for pies and preserves. The fla¬ 
vor of the raw berries is not inviting, but 
they may not be as poisonous as has been 
imagined. The plant is productive and 
easy to grow, but the fruits are of little 
importance, to be classed with such horti¬ 
cultural trifles as elderberries and the 
ground cherry or strawberry tomato, Phy- 
salis Alkekengi, and other species. 
w. v. F. 
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