HOUSE AND GARDEN 
210 
October, 191 
Soil is an item; see that it is rich, but not too 
heavy 
can readily see, 
therefore, how abso¬ 
lutely important it is, 
if you want the best 
results, that you get 
good, sound, fresh 
bulbs. The safest 
and most econom¬ 
ical way to do this is 
to order direct from 
one of the large 
seed houses which 
make their own im¬ 
portations, with in¬ 
structions to ship as 
soon as received, as 
they get fresh sup¬ 
plies each fall from Japan, Holland and Bermuda and the other 
bulb-growing sections of the world. It is best, too, to stick to 
named varieties and the largest sizes of the bulbs even though 
they cost a little more, as results will be both more certain and 
more satisfactory. As most of the bulbs mentioned can be bought 
for from twenty-five to seventy-five cents a dozen, and as but a 
few dozen will be required to give you flowers all winter long, 
unless you want to use them largely for cut-flowers, it is evident 
that one can well afford the best. 
As I have already mentioned the second factor in success is 
getting a strong well developed 
root to grow from the bulb be¬ 
fore you bring them in where 
they are to flower. This is eas¬ 
ily accomplished if you will 
but take the pains to follow a 
few simple directions. In the 
first place you should decide 
whether you want to have them 
flower in pots or “bulb-pans," 
or simply to produce flowers 
that you can cut for table dec¬ 
orations. The bulb-pans are 
made of the same material as 
pots, but much shallower and 
a more convenient shape for 
this purpose, especially where 
it is desired to flower a number 
of bulbs together for a table 
decoration. If small, shallow 
pieces covering the 
bottoms, or bore 
three or four half¬ 
inch holes in it. 
The soil for bulbs 
should be rich, but 
not too heavy. A 
composition of one 
part of well rotted 
manure to two parts 
rotted sod is just the 
thing, but if this is 
not readily available 
use any good garden 
soil, lightening it 
with sand if neces¬ 
sary, and adding the 
oldest, finest manure you can procure. Thorough drainage is ab¬ 
solutely essential; therefore put some rough material, preferably 
lumps of broken charcoal, in the bottoms of the pots or boxes, 
and on this put an inch or so of the prepared soil. In this set 
the hulbs firmly, right side up and near enough so that they almost 
touch each other, then cover the bulbs with soil, covering about 
an inch deep over them, which should fill the box, bulb-pan or pot 
not quite level full. A slight depression is necessary in order to 
give them care in the form of watering. 
Immediately after planting give a thorough soaking with the 
watering can, and after this 
put the bulbs away to develop 
their root systems before the 
top growth is allowed to begin. 
If one has a good dark, cool 
cellar, such as is suitable for 
storing roots in winter, and 
only a few boxes of bulbs are 
to be forced, that is an excel¬ 
lent place to put them. If such 
a place is not available, put 
them in a coldframe, covering 
with three or four inches of 
coal ashes or sandy soil; or 
simply dig a trench in a con¬ 
venient and thoroughly drained 
spot about a foot deep and long 
enough to hold your various 
boxes or pots. Cover these 
with half a foot or so of coal 
air even in winter. The reason that a bulb 
can be grown and brought to flower in 
nothing but plain water is that in reality 
the growing has already been done in some 
rich field of Holland, Japan or Bermuda 
and the food there assimilated has been 
stored up by one of nature’s wondrous de¬ 
vices. The grower of the bulb, in fact, has 
already done practically all of the work 
for you, as you may see for yourself by 
cutting down through the centre of a 
sound tulip or hyacinth bulb, where you 
will find the complete flower folded away 
in miniature, only awaiting a chance to 
emerge like the genie from the bottle. You 
No matter what bulbs are planted in, they 
should be given good drainage 
Did you know that it was easy to grow crocuses indoors? A number 
of them may be planted successfully in a bulb-pan 
wooden boxes are used, they may be cov¬ 
ered with green denim when brought in¬ 
side. The bulbs may either be started di¬ 
rectly in the pots or pans in which they 
are to bloom, or put first in boxes and 
shifted — if you have a convenient place 
and the soil with which to do the work— 
at the time they are brought into the 
house. The first plan, however, is the 
simplest. For flowers alone, the ordinary 
florist’s “flat,” made of empty cracker 
boxes cut into sections three inches deep 
and bottomed, is just the thing. Do not 
have the bottoms water tight. Either 
leave quarter-inch spaces between the 
Bulbs indoors should not be planted too 
deep, and, above all, planted right side up 
