HOUSE AND GARDEN 
302 
November, 1912 
hardware or department store near by 
As to when to buy bulbs — send your 
order in just as soon after reading this 
as you can. A few sorts do not come in 
until the last of October or early Novem¬ 
ber, but the earlier you have the others 
the better, and the rest will be sent just 
as soon as they arrive. 
So much for the first factor —good 
bulbs. The next important thing is to get 
a good root system before the tops start. 
The roots will grow in a lower tempera¬ 
ture than is required by the tops or foli¬ 
age, so this is an easy problem. After 
the bulbs are planted, the pots, pans or 
boxes are set where it is cool and dark 
to “make roots” before they are brought 
into the light and heat and forced into 
bloom. Where but a few bulbs for home 
use are being grown, a cool dark cellar 
is the most convenient place in which to 
store the bulbs during this preliminary 
stage. Next to that the best place is a 
deep coldframe, in which they can be 
kept dark by covering with a few inches 
of soil or coal ashes. If neither of these 
is available, simply dig a trench in a well- 
drained place, about twelve inches deep 
and long enough to hold your boxes and 
pots. Cover with six or eight inches of 
soil. Freesias should be covered only 
two inches, with very light soil, and taken 
in before freezing. The other things, as 
cold weather approaches, should be mulched with leaves or 
litter, so that they can be “got out” readily when wanted. 
The paraphernalia required for bulb-forcing is the simplest 
possible. Where the flowers alone are wanted, nothing is better 
than ordinary “flats” three inches deep, which may be made out 
of light wooden boxes of various sizes. They should have sev¬ 
eral h a 1 f - i n c h 
holes in the bot¬ 
tom for proper 
drainage. As 
these may be cov¬ 
ered with some at¬ 
tractive material, 
such as green de¬ 
nim, when they are 
brought into the 
house, they answer 
every purpose. 
For centerpieces or 
table decorations, 
“bulb-pans” are 
just the thing. 
These are much 
better for this pur¬ 
pose than flower 
pots, and as they 
may be had at most 
hardware stores 
(a pan eight inches 
wide and four 
inches deep cost¬ 
ing but ten cents) 
the prospective 
bulb grower should 
The attractiveness of bulbs as gifts may be 
greatly increased by appropriate receptacles 
Gladioli as house plants reach their prime late 
c in the .winter « 
procure an adequate assortment. In the 
absence of these, however, ordinary flower 
pots will do, and in a jardiniere they pre¬ 
sent a very attractive appearance. 
The soil used should be rich and light. 
If you can have it mixed up of old manure 
and rotted sods in the proportion of one 
to two, get it; otherwise any good garden 
soil lightened with sand will do. The bot¬ 
toms of the pans or flats should be well 
drained. Put in some pieces of broken 
pots, small stones, or, best of all, lumps 
of charcoal, and over these an inch of 
soil. Place the bulb or bulbs firmly in 
this, right side up, and near enough so that 
they almost touch. Then cover with an 
inch of soil (which should fill the pot or 
flat almost level full) and give a good 
watering. They will then be ready for the 
root-making rest in the dark before bring¬ 
ing into the living-room or the greenhouse. 
If several boxes are to be buried, it will 
be best to put the labels on short stakes so 
they will show above the surface after the 
bulbs are covered over. 
No further care will be required until the 
boxes are ready to bring in. The time re¬ 
quired in making roots varies with the 
different sorts and varieties. 
Hyacinths, lily-of-the-valley, polyanthus 
narcissi, and the “Due Van Thol” tulips, 
in rose, scarlet and white, may be had in 
flower by Christmas, and make most 
charming gifts. Pot covers and pan covers, made of an attrac¬ 
tive waterproof paper, may be had in various shades to add the 
touch of neatness and daintiness required. Gift plants may be 
presented when just coming into bloom, but it is often desirable 
to let them be but half grown, so that the recipient may have the 
pleasure of watching the buds develop and the flowers break. 
Or one may easily 
make a basket cov¬ 
ering of birch bark 
for a pot or pan 
that will be both 
novel and really 
pretty, and possess 
the further great 
advantage of hav¬ 
ing been made by 
the giver. 
Success with the 
other tulips, large- 
flowered narcissi 
and lilies will be 
more certain if 
they are left in the 
dark until nearly 
the first of Decem¬ 
ber. In either case, 
the growth of the 
bulbs until brought 
into the heat will 
have been almost 
entirely root- 
growth. The leaves 
(Continued on 
page 323) 
The colors and fragrance of hyacinths make 
them prime favorites 
