THE GARDENING WORLD. 
October 2f, 1894 
138 
BULBS AND THEIR CULTIVATION 
IN HOLLAND. 
[Continued from p. 123.) 
When the flowers are cut off, the foliage begins to 
grow very rapidly, and upon the health and strength 
of the foliage depends the next year’s blooms, and it 
seems to me that the growers look more to the 
strength of the foliage than the flowers, perhaps, 
because upon this growth depends the crop and 
their living. The bulbs are usually lifted out of the 
ground at the end of July, when they are carefully 
cleaned and put upon tiers of shelves in large ware¬ 
houses which have windows on the sides and at the 
top to create as great a draught as possible; all are 
carefully put in rows not more than two layers deep ; 
here they are allowed to remain as long as possible, 
for if they are packed up too soon they become 
heated and get mouldy and very often go rotten. 
When the harvesting of these bulbs is in full 
operation, all the inhabitants are more or less 
engaged in the work, men, women, and children, 
from early morning till late at night, in cleaning and 
preparing the various bulbs for market. I should 
mention that Hyacinths or any other sort of bulbs 
are rarely grown in the same ground two years in 
succession ; one year the ground is planted with 
Hyacinths, the next year it is planted with Tulips, 
Crocus, and Scillas, or other bulbs, and the third 
year the ground is generally allowed to lie fallow or 
out of cultivation. 
The propagation of the various bulbs is done in 
various ways, Hyacinths, Tulips, Narciss, etc., may 
be grown from seed, but as it takes from six to eight 
or even ten years to 1 bring to maturity, very few 
growers adopt this, but those who do are well repaid 
for their trouble, for if they get a choice new variety 
it will readily fetch from one pound to ten pounds 
per bulb at the auctions of the present day. 
Hyacinths are generally increased by scooping or 
crossing the large or mother bulbs. Crossing a bulb 
simply means cutting three times at the bottom to 
form six points ; they are then put on shelves to dry 
until you would think all the nature was dried out of 
them, but it is then the little bulblets or small bulbs 
begin to show ; the large bulbs are then planted and 
by next summer each parent bulb has from thirty to 
fifty small bulbs ; these are then carefully taken up, 
cleaned, dried, and then planted in beds for some 
three or four or even five years, but are taken up, 
dried and cleaned each year, being planted further 
apart as they grow older. The first year the beds 
contain from fifteen to twenty in a row, the second 
year nine to thirteen, the third year nine, and the 
fourth year seven, and so one can easily see the age 
of the bulbs and those ready for sale. 
Scooping is done by scooping out the bottom of 
the bulb by making a hollow, they are then perfectly 
dried, which is done by placing them in the sun or 
in heated houses, when the little bulbs or bulblets 
seem to form on every layer of scales as the examples 
here shown ; this method will produce a great many 
more bulbs than the system of crossing, but it takes 
somewhat longer to bring the bulbs to maturity than 
by the system of crossing. 
Tulips are increased by the little offshoots or little 
bulbs, each bulb generally produces one or two good 
flowering bulbs and three to five offshoots, which 
become flowering or saleable bulbs in two or three 
years. Crocuses are increased in much the same 
way as Hyacinths, but instead of forming at the 
sides like Tulips they form at the base of the old 
bulb, which seems to die right away; Crocuses 
increase much more rapidly than Tulips or any 
other bulbs, hence it is they are so low in price. 
Gladioli increase like Crocus, but rarely more than 
two or three from the parent bulb or corm, except 
at times; they seem to make quite a number of little 
bulblets or corms which come to maturity in two 
years. Scillas, Chionodoxa, and other small bulbs 
are generally produced from seed and will generally 
form good flowering bulbs in two or three years. 
Narcissus are increased much as Tulips and other 
bulbs, but unless carefully cultivated many are of 
such bad shape or of such poor size as to be quite 
unsaleable for market purposes. This is a great 
drawback, as a third or half the stock has to be 
replanted and grown on again so as to get better 
shaped larger size bulbs, hence it is that the large 
selected bulbs are much more expensive, but all large 
bulbs are really cheaper than the small bulbs for 
growing, as the small ones will only throw two and 
sometimes three flowers, whereas the large ones will 
throw four and five, and large Crocuses will throw 
as many as twelve or fourteen blooms from each 
corm, and some of my friends have told me that 
they have had as many as sixteen and even eighteen 
flowers from a single corm. 
When one sees or hears of the vast amount of 
labour and the time it takes to bring the Hyacinths 
and other bulbs to maturity or to be saleable, it is 
wonderful how they can be sold for the money, but 
wages are low and poor in comparison to what the 
skilled mechanic gets in Birmingham, Sheffield, and 
other towns. The pay of the ordinary labouring bulb 
grower being only from ten to twelve shillings per 
week, with a little for overtime in the very busy 
seasons, and yet although these Dutch people are 
dressed in rather inexpensive materials, they never 
look rough or poor. The women usually wear a blue 
or black material with a white cap, and the men 
black or blue blouses with a black cap peculiar to the 
Dutch nation ; food and meat are cheap, as also are 
vegetables in the summer ; clothing is also cheap and 
shoes cheaper, or I should more properly say wooden 
clogs, for except in the summer, and even then, they 
are worn by many men, women, and children, and 
they make quite a clatter as they go along the roads, 
which are usually paved with small bricks placed 
edgeways; these clogs may be bought from eight- 
pence to one shilling and threepence per pair and will 
usually last several months. 
But I may tell my friends that the eight hours a 
day work is not known in the bulb districts, for the 
men begin in the busy season at five or six o’clock in 
the morning and go on till seven or eight in the 
evening, or even much later when the harvesting and 
packing up of their bulbs begins. And I may 
perhaps be allowed to say, that although I am not an 
advocate of these very long hours, I think the agita¬ 
tion for such short hours, will, if carried too far, be 
England's downfall; she is already being cut out of 
some of the markets in the world, and if foreigners 
will work so many hours at a much less remuneration, 
England must do something to hold her own; our 
forefathers did not become the greatest nation in the 
world on the eight hours' movement, neither has any 
man or woman who has risen from the ranks to a 
high position to-day, done so by working short hours, 
those who have been successful in life have worked 
hard and long hours, and very often under adverse 
circumstances ; the new system seems to me to keep 
all workman down to one level, rather than en¬ 
courage them to rise or improve their position ; it 
therefore behoves us all not to carry this agitation to 
too great an extent if we are to maintain England’s 
greatness. 
(To be continued.) 
-- 
WREATH MAKING. 
Most gardeners have more or less to do with the 
making of these beautiful tributes of respect and 
sympathy, the giving of which is such a common 
occurrence everywhere. The trade in them has 
greatly increased of late, and the quality of the 
article sold has considerably improved. A few years 
ago wiring was never thought of, and even now 
there are many who adhere to the old-fashioned way 
of laying and wrapping. It is to these whom I 
would like to say a few words. Having decided 
that you will give the practice of wiring each flower 
a trial, proceed as follows :—First of all procure an 
assistant. It is very trying to have to keep laying 
your work down to wire and wrap your flowers. A 
couple of clean newspapers spread out are as good 
as anything to work upon, unless a place built for 
the purpose is part of the establishment. 
Next proceed to cut the flowers and Fern that you 
consider to be most suitable for your purpose. A 
good plan is to place cut fronds of Adiantum in water 
for two or three hours previous to using them. This 
makes them far more durable than when they are used 
directly they are cut off the plant. The foundation for 
the wreath should be made of wire, and it must be 
covered evenly over with fresh moss. Take care to 
bind the moss on firmly so as to insure a good hold 
for the wires. As to the wiring of the flowers, the 
method of performing this should be governed by 
the kind of flowers employed. Roses, for instance, 
should have their own stalk removed, and a stout 
wire passed through the heart of the flower ; no 
wrapping will be necessary in a well-formed Rose. 
Stephanotis should have a wire with a small hook at 
the end passed through each flower separately, and 
the stalk afterwards wrapped round with a small 
piece of cotton wool, to prevent cutting. Practice 
will, however, very soon show what each individual 
flower requires to make it look well. 
A layer of something slightly stiffer than are the 
fronds of Adiantum should be used as a ground 
work, and upon this the flowers and pieces of Fern 
fronds may be tastefully arranged. The wires hold¬ 
ing these should be passed through the foundation 
and the points twisted and turned back into the 
moss underneath for security. Pieces of Stephanotis, 
Tuberoses, or double Hyacinths slightly raised 
above the level of the larger flowers present a light 
and graceful appearance, and shapely pieces of 
Asparagus tenuissimus inserted at regular intervals 
will add a finishing touch to the whole. In most 
cases the gardener has to make the wreath of the 
best flowers he has, so its quality will, in a great 
measure, depend upon what flowers are in season at 
the time. Many wreaths are, in my opinion, much 
too heavy. Lightness and firmness are the two main 
points to be noted. 
The size of the wreath, will of course largely de¬ 
pend upon the purpose for which it is to be used. But 
for an ordinary wreath of from twelve to sixteen 
inches across, flowers of Richardias, Lilium auratum, 
L. lancifolium, etc., are much too large. Firmness 
in wiring and fixing, is a most important considera¬ 
tion, while each flower should stand clearly out from 
those around it. To do this the wires should be bent 
into the particular position which shows the flowers 
they hold to the best advantage. 
A few of the flowers most suitable for ordinary 
wreath-making are Gardenias, Freesia refracta alba, 
Roses Niphetos, The Bride, The Queen, Devoniensis 
and Marie Van Houtte ; Lapageria alba, Tuberoses, 
Deutzia gracilis, Chrysanthemums Elaine, Mdle. 
Lacroix, Lily of the Valley, etc. Besides these 
there are very many other flowers eminently suit¬ 
able for the purpose.— J. G. Pettinger, Strawberry 
Dale Nursery, Harrogate. 
--*•- 
VINE DISEASE IN KASHMIR. 
The following note, taken from a memorandum by 
Mr. W. R. Lawrence, Settlement Officer, Kashmir 
State, is published by the Indian Government as one 
of their Agricultural Ledger Series :— 
In 1889, Mr. Lawrence was desired to assist the 
Darbar by superintending the State vineyards. It 
was then generally believed that the decay of the 
vines was due to lax management, and it had not 
been suggested that the real cause of the evil was 
phylloxera. At the beginning of 1890, Monsieur 
Peychaud, who had been given charge of the vine¬ 
yards as well as the wine factory, reported that he 
had described the symptoms, and had sent specimens 
of the rootlets of deceased vines to his father, who is 
a vine-grower in the Bordeaux district, and that he, 
after consulting other experts, had pronounced the 
disease to be phylloxera. Inasmuch as the vines 
were originally imported from the Bordeaux country, 
it appeared prima facie possible that, just as Bor¬ 
deaux had suffered from phylloxera, so the vines 
imported from Bordeaux might have brought the 
disease with them. 
To meet the ravages caused by phylloxera in 
France, vine-growers imported a strong, healthy 
stock from America, which is able to resist the 
disease. At the end of 1890, by the assistance of 
the Government of India, a large number of rooted 
American vines and cuttings were received, and were 
taken charge of by Signor Benvenute, the trained 
vine-grower, who joined the service of the Kashmir 
State at the end of 1890. One vineyard, the Jhid 
vineyard, which was destroyed by phylloxera, has 
been replanted with American vines, ard they look 
extremely strong and well, and in the next planting 
season, the Chashma Shahi vineyard will be re¬ 
planted with American stock. Of the various kinds 
imported, the Riparia has been the most successful. 
Had any doubts as to the disease being phylloxera 
existed, they would have been removed by the fact 
that, in the spring of 1891, Signor Bassi and Signor 
Benvenute, both of whom hold certificates of pro¬ 
ficiency in vine culture, often demonstrated on the 
phylloxera insect on the roots of the old vines. 
As regards Dr. Watts’ suggestion that the Indian 
wild vine may prove an efficient substitute for the 
American vine, the experiment is being tried, and 
a large number of wild vines have been budded with 
French vines. It is too early yet to say whether the 
wild vine will be able to throw off the phylloxera 
in the same way as the American stock throws it off. 
So far the experiment has not succeeded, for 900 
wild vines budded with French vines died this year 
(1892) from phylloxera .—Society of Arts Journal. 
