October, 1915 
15 
THE BULBS TO PLANT NOW][FOR HOLIDAY BLOOMING 
How to Plan and Place Your Order — Fiber'Versus Soil — The Right Way to Set 
Daffodils, Narcissus and Jonquils — A List of Dependable Varieties 
ELOISE ROORBACH 
Photographs hv S. Leonard Bastin 
B Y starting them at different times, and removing them 
from their dark beds at intervals of from two to three 
weeks, living flowers may be had to brighten the house, from 
Christmas until Easter. The first necessity 
of winter flowering bulbs is that they be of 
the very finest procurable. They may be 
started any time after September, so that 
the blooming hour can be regulated for 
some special birthday feast or saved until 
Easter. It is a wise plan to tell the seeds¬ 
man, with whom you have placed your 
order, to begin shipment as fast as he re¬ 
ceives the various bulbs, not to wait until 
the full order is received, for bulbs deter¬ 
iorate if kept too long. So as fast as the 
different bulbs come from the market set 
them in the ground. 
The second item of importance is the soil. 
A few years ago city dwellers found it dif¬ 
ficult to get proper soil, but nowadays any 
seedsman can supply customers with the 
fiber which is such an astonishingly good 
substitute. When the bulbs are intended for 
holiday gifts, they may be started in fancy 
pots and covered with clean straw and lay¬ 
ers of matting that will not spoil the jar. 
A better plan is to start them in pans, 
which at the proper time can be 
slipped within the gift jar. When 
fiber is used, the jar need not have a 
hole in the bottom. This enables one 
to use some of those beautiful porce¬ 
lain molds which are shown in the 
shops. The unglazed jars seem to give 
the soil-potted bulbs the best condi¬ 
tion for development. They must be 
drained, that is, bits of broken pots or 
small stones or pieces of charcoal 
must be placed loosely in the bottom 
of the pot over the hole to hold back 
the soil, yet permit the surplus mois¬ 
ture to escape. Potting soil must be loose 
and rich and the bulbs pushed firmly into it, 
taking care that there is no air space below 
them that might prevent the roots from 
taking hold at once. Soil should be pressed 
firmly above them, that they may not push 
out of the ground by the swelling of the 
tubers. After the bulbs have been planted, 
soak them thoroughly, cover them with peat 
or moss to hold the moisture and place them 
in the cellar or some such cool, dark place 
where the temperature will not rise above 
6o°. An even lower temperature is better. 
No light must be permitted to touch them, 
the object being to force them to make good 
root growth, which they will not do if they 
have any light toward which the leaves can 
strive to reach. Water them occasionally 
when the soil gets dry, but 
do not keep them wet. Too 
much heat and too much 
moisture are responsible for 
most of the failure with bulb forcing at this time of the year. 
If there is no cool cellar to place them in, dig a trench out- 
of-doors, cover the bottom with ashes, bank them well with 
ashes or soil and, if cold weather comes 
early, give them added protection of straw 
or a mulch held down with boards. 
Fiber is but another form of water cul¬ 
ture. A good mixture is one quart of 
cocoanut fiber or moss, one pint finely- 
ground charcoal, and one quart of sand. 
Place 2" of this in the bottom of a pot, 
arrange the bulbs so that they touch each 
other, but see that the tips are exposed. 
Water thoroughly when first planted and 
set in a dark place. Treat as though in soil, 
occasionally putting a small portion of plant 
food in the water. The secret of good 
blooms lies in the strength of root growth, 
so give them plenty of time — from seven to 
nine weeks — to develop. It would be wise 
for a beginner not to remove the pot until 
the roots are seen venturing through the 
hole in the bottom. By this time sprouts 
also should be showing. When they are 
about 1" high, uncover and lift into 
nearer and nearer the light, until, 
when the buds have fully formed, 
they can be put in direct sunlight. 
If brought too quickly into the sun, 
the stems will be short and the spikes 
small. Some growers place a paste¬ 
board cone over tire new shoots to 
encourage longer stems. Bulbs re¬ 
quire but little water until blooming 
time, when they drink voraciously 
that the swelling buds may properly 
fill out. 
There are but few bulbs that can 
be depended upon to bloom by the 
Christmas holidays. Roman hya¬ 
cinths and paper white narcissus are, per¬ 
haps, the best, for they are easily forced. 
They are fair and fragrant and look so well 
in the artistic pots and bulb pans that they 
make especially attractive gifts. The 
Romans are at their best when six or more 
are planted about a half inch deep in one 
pan. The bulbs may even touch with no 
harm, so that a 6" pan would hold 
quite a mass of blue, lavender or white fra¬ 
grant spikes. The white Romans flower 
several weeks before the pink and blue 
ones, which must be remembered when lift¬ 
ing them from the dark. The white Ital¬ 
ians come on about two weeks later than 
the Romans. The hyacinths should be 
planted at intervals from the first to the last 
of October. By holding back, their bloom¬ 
ing time can be extended 
materially. They should be 
given sandy soil. Good single 
(Continued on page 64) 
A lined rustic box filled with cocoa- 
nut fiber or moss will serve for 
bulbs. Mix with the fiber a pint 
of finely-ground charcoal and a 
quart of sand 
To decorate the pots, sow grass seed in the fiber 
when the bulbs are a few inches high, a thick 
patch will come by blooming time 
Anything—even a shell—will do to 
plant bulbs in, so long as the soil 
or fiber is mixed right and the 
roots have 
spread 
plenty of room to 
