Bulbs to Plant for Christmas Bloom 
DO NOT FAIL TO BRIGHTEN THE WINTER SEASON WITH SOME OF THE MANY 
BULBS THAT BLOSSOM INDOORS — POINTED DIRECTIONS FOR SUCCESS 
by Frederic de Rocheville 
Photographs by N. R. Graves and Others 
F LOWERING bulbs, to 
furnish cheeriness and fra¬ 
grance to the winter living- 
rooms, to bring that hint of 
warm sunshine and breath of 
greening spring that makes 
the dull days fly a little faster 
— offer two valuable advan¬ 
tages. First, you can be sure 
of success with them. Sec¬ 
ond, all the work in connec¬ 
tion with forcing them can 
be done at one time and got 
out of the way — and it isn't 
very much work at that. 
The reason for these facts 
is that the grower of the bulb 
has already done most of the 
work. If you cut a good 
hyacinth or tulip bulb down 
through the center, you will 
find there a perfect miniature 
flower, which is but awaiting 
the proper conditions of moisture and heat supplied to the bulb — 
which is in reality but a storehouse to furnish food and protec¬ 
tion to the flower — in order to develop. You have probably seen 
a hyacinth or a Chinese sacred lily grown in pure water and 
clean pebbles, and wondered where it got its nourishment, not 
realizing that it had been drawn 
from the rich bulb fields of Holland 
or China. This then is the fact 
that makes success with bulbs a 
certainty, if one will use good 
bulbs and will take reason¬ 
able care in furnishing the 
proper conditions, which are 
very simple. 
“Use good bulbs” — heed 
well the first of those two 
conditions. You can readily 
understand that the quality of 
the bulbs will be the first fac¬ 
tor in determining your suc¬ 
cess. Never buy bulbs mere¬ 
ly because they are cheap. 
The best are reasonable 
enough in price, and the 
others may cause severe dis¬ 
appointment. It is much 
more satisfactory to get bulbs 
of the first size, and of the 
standard named sorts. Al¬ 
ways avoid “mixtures.” Good 
bulbs should be firm and 
solid. Sometimes, if they 
have been stored in too hot or dry a place, they will be a little 
shriveled in appearance, but still of good vitality, and should be 
placed in a moderately warm place and covered with a moist 
cloth, such as an old bag, so that their original plumpness may 
be restored before they are used. It is safer to buy from some 
reliable mail-order house, whose 
bulb importations are beginning to 
come in just at this time of the 
year, than to trust to some local 
The oxalis, obtainable in several types and colors, is one of the most 
beautiful all-year-’round flowers 
Narcissi, under proper care, may be had Tulips brought to bloom indoors should not be allowed The Spanish iris may be forced under the 
blooming profusely indoors even in mid- to dry out. They need more water than other same conditions as tulips and is a satis- 
winter house plants factory house 'plant 1 ' 
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