( Zandbergen %vs‘.‘ r 7 7 itllpdotn 
Tulips, Continued. 
The Growing of Bulbs Indoors 
The Soil should be good, clean garden soil in which no bulbs of the kind you 
wish to raise have been grown before. If the gardener has to prepare it he should 
use a compost of § soil and § leaf mould, adding about a pound of bone meal to 
every bushel of mixture. 
The Pots should preferably be of the semi-flat azalea or pan type, these being 
somewhat shallower than the regulation type of flower pot. But any kind or 
size of pots may be used if you have them on hand. Broken pieces of flower 
pots or crocks should be placed in the bottom to insure good drainage. 
The Bulbs should be especially selected and be of varieties that lend them¬ 
selves to “forcing.” No expert on earth can force a variety not adapted to pro¬ 
ducing flowers out of season. Size of the bulb counts, but it is also important 
that they be firm and in healthy, plump appearance otherwise. 
Spacing. After placing some soil on top of drainage material, the bulbs 
should be set between f and 1 inch apart each way, the former distance for 
the early, the latter for the later Darwin, Cottage and Breeder Tulips. The top 
of the bulbs may come within \ inch of the rim of the pot. A 6-inch diameter pot 
will hold about 6, an 8-inch pot about 8 bulbs of normal size. 
After Planting the pans or pots should be watered and then be placed in a 
cold frame or plunged into the garden, in a spot readily accessible to the gardener. 
They should be placed so that at least five inches of soil covers the rim of the pot. 
After frost slightly hardens surface of the soil the spot should be mulched and 
more covering added, as the temperature goes down, to prevent the pot from 
freezing. 
Bringing to Daylight. Tulip pots or pans trenched outdoors are ready to 
be brought in after about ten weeks. Before bringing them to heat or light, how¬ 
ever, take the precaution of investigating how much root-growth the bulbs have 
made. Place your left hand over the pot. Turn it up-side-down with your right, 
and with the pot between your hands, tap the rim gently against a frame or ledge. 
If the earth ball shows a nice network of roots, the pot may be brought to light 
and living room atmosphere. Bring in those marked (1) after variety name 
first — they are the easiest to “force.” Unless roots show, leave pots in a dark 
corner of a cool cellar or frame. A disregard of this rule is responsible for most 
of the failures with flowers from bulbs indoors. 
PERSONAL OPINIONS. 
Were we permitted to have it our way we would no longer offer a good many so- 
called “old fashioned” favorites. They are obsolete! Many quite reasonably 
priced newer varieties are far ahead of them in every respect. We do not offer 
novelties of questionable merit. Once you see a variety offered in our catalogue 
you can be sure that it deserves your consideration and trial. 
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