266 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
April  1,  1897. 
HARDY  BULB  CULTURE  IN  ENGLAND. 
[By  F.  W.  Burbidge,  M.A.  Read  before  the  Birmingham  Gardeners’ 
Mutual  Improvement  Association.] 
C  Concluded  from  page  245.) 
The  belt  bulb  soils  are  deep,  rich  tracts  of  alluvium  or  “  Trent 
Warp,”  beside  rivers,  or  in  valleys  near  the  sea.  In  Lincolnshire 
there  are  deep  sandy  soils,  not  unlike  those  of  Holland,  on  which 
most  bulbs  thrive  well.  Near  Caistor  very  fine  flowers  and  bulbs 
are  grown,  and  so  also  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Boston  and  Wain- 
fleet.  Messrs.  Pearson  &  Sons  of  Chilwell,  Notts,  have  been  very 
successful  in  growing  Narcissi,  as  also  many  market  growers  in  the 
Thames  valley,  and  especially  Mr.  James  Walker,  formerly  of 
Whitton,  and  now  of  Ham  Common,  Middlesex,  who  was  one  of 
the  first  growers  to  make  a  speciality  of  Narcissus  culture  for  the 
London  markets. 
In  planting  stock  bulbs  do  not  plant  too  deeply.  It  is  true  that 
the  finest  flowers  are  those  produced  by  bulbs  deeply  planted, 
especially  on  light,  warm,  and  sandy  soils,  but  such  flowers  are 
produced  later,  and  the  bulbs’  increase  is  much  less  than  when 
shallow  planting  is  the  rule.  A  depth  of  3  to  4  inches  is  ample  on 
ordinary  soils.  It  is  most  important  to  replant  stock  bulbs  as 
early  as  possible,  and  to  perform  that  operation  during  dry  weather. 
Plant  dry  and  on  a  firm  bottom.  All  stock  should  be  planted  at 
latest  before  August,  if  the  best  of  results  are  desired. 
Sloping  land  or  banks  amongst  sheltering  rocks,  totally  inacces¬ 
sible  to  horse  or  plough,  may  often  be  made  profitable  by  the  spade 
and  bulb  culture.  I  have  seen  the  wind  and  spray-swept  Scilly 
Islands,  and  the  thrifty  flower  plots  along  the  rocky  Riviera,  and  I 
am  sure  that  along  our  English  shores  there  are  sheltered  and 
well- watered  spots  now  lying  waste,  where  many  things,  if  not 
everything,  would  be  possible  to  the  intelligent  bulb  grower.  It 
is  almost  incredible,  but  it  is  true,  that  one  hundred  thousand 
(100,000)  Hyacinths  or  Narcissus  may  be  grown  on  an  acre  of  land. 
Of  Tulips,  115,000  to  120,000  may  be  grown  on  the  same  area  ; 
and  when  we  come  to  such  small  fry  as  Crocus,  Snowdrops,  Squills, 
Anemones,  Winter  Aconites,  and  others,  the  numbers  run  up  to 
200,000  and  300,000  per  acre. 
Bulb  culture  often  means  a  double  profit,  because  if  produced 
early  the  flowers  are  a  valuable  crop,  and  a  remunerative  bulb 
harvest  still  remains.  The  best  results  will  be  obtained  by  utilising 
light  and  airy  greenhouses  in  which  to  forward  or  develop  the 
earliest  flowers,  and  in  such  structures  in  the  sheltered,  sunny 
nooks  by  the  sea,  before  mentioned  as  most  suitable,  but  little  fire 
heat  will  be  necessary.  These  greenhouses  are  of  course  available 
for  Tomatoes,  or  other  cultures  after  the  bulbs  are  over.  I  shall 
not  go  into  the  price  of  bulbs  per  1000  in  order  to  show  you  how 
very  profitable  bulb  growing  must  be  on  all  suitable  soils  when 
undertaken  by  people  who  understand  the  subject.  There  are 
several  factors  that  must  agree  in  bulb  culture,  as  in  all  other  ways 
of  making  a  living  off  the  land. 
First,  the  land  must  be  that  naturally  most  suitable  to  the 
kinds  of  bulbs  grown,  and  naturally  or  artificially  well  sheltered  ; 
secondly,  the  cultivator  must  not  only  know  how  to  grow  his 
bulbs  well,  but  how  to  put  them  on  to  the  best  markets  ;  and 
thirdly,  only  the  best  kinds  or  varieties  popular  in  the  market  must 
be  largely  grown.  In  special  cases  a  combined  course  of  culture  is 
better  than  a  simple  one — that  is  to  say,  fruit  trees  and  bulbs  may 
both  occupy  the  same  acreage  with  advantage,  or  bush  fruits  and 
choice  vegetables  may  also  be  grown  side  by  side  with  the  bulbs  ; 
but  on  soils  especially  suitable  in  sheltered  aspects,  no  culture  I 
know  is  more  surely  remunerative  than  bulb  culture.  Nothing  but  a 
new  railway,  or  the  most  liberal  of  building  contractors,  can  induce 
the  successful  bulb  grower  to  move  on  and  vacate  his  holding. 
To  new  beginners  the  selection  of  the  land  is  a  complex  problem 
— to  the  experienced  it  is  less  difficult.  Now  and  then  an  acci¬ 
dental  clump  of  bulbs  or  a  fruit  tree  tells  the  tale.  A  practical 
bulb  grower  has  a  seventh  sense,  and  knows  as  it  were  by  instinct 
when  he  sees  a  suitable  bulb  soil ;  but,  if  at  all  possible,  an  actual 
trial  of  bulbs  of  all  kinds  should  be  made,  when  they  will  soon 
give  evidence  of  the  best,  as  to  the  suitability  or  otherwise  of  the 
land.  As  Arthur  Young  long  ago  said,  no  rental  is  too  high  for 
the  best  land,  and  none  too  low  for  the  poorest  of  soils  ;  and  land 
that  will  grow  bulbs  and  fruit  to  perfection  is  often  to  be  had  at 
a  reasonable  rate. 
An  acre  or  two  of  good  bulb  land  will  pay  better  than  10  acres 
of  ordinary  farm  or  garden  produce,  and  I  should  not  like  to  say 
the  value  of  a  rood  even,  of  such  select  Daffodils  as  Madame  de 
Graaff,  Golden  Bell,  or  Glory  of  Leyden — to  say  nothing  of  choice 
sorts  that  are  rare,  such  as  Monarch,  Weardale  Perfection,  Hod- 
sock’s  Pride,  or  the  big  and  beautiful  Ellen  Willmott.  The  same 
is  true  of  most  of  the  Rev.  G.  H.  Engleheart’s  seedlings,  not  alone 
of  Daffodils  proper,  but  of  other  sections  such  as  Peerless  or 
Incomparables. 
Any  hardy  bulbs  that  are  worth  more  than  £1  per  1000  in  the 
market  will  pay  to  grow.  Sound  and  heavy  bulbs,  as  clean  skinned 
as  possible,  find  a  ready  sale  even  though  not  quite  so  perfect  in 
form  and  in  coat  or  skin  as  those  from  abroad.  I  have  had  bulbs 
of  this  class  by  the  thousand  from  Scilly  and  the  Isle  of  Wight  sent 
tied  tightly  in  sacks  like  Potatoes,  and  they  flowered  as  well  or 
better  than  the  finest  Dutch  roots  packed  in  buckwheat  chaff  and 
paper.  The  rough  exterior  of  a  bulb  is  not  always  an  indication  of 
its  flowering  qualities.  A  smooth  skinned  and  shapely  bulb  looks 
better  in  the  store  or  shop,  but  it  does  not  always  behave  better  in 
the  garden.  All  large,  sound,  and  heavy  bulbs,  even  if  rough 
coated,  may  be  trusted  to  bloom  well.  As  to  the  comparative 
merits  of  Continental  versus  English  bulbs,  I  may  say  that  while 
I  believe  our  friends  in  Holland  can,  or  rather  do,  produce  the  best 
Hyacinths,  and  perhaps  also  some  early  Tulips,  yet  we  in  England 
and  Ireland  can  grow  by  far  the  best  Narcissi,  late  Tulips,  Snow¬ 
drops,  and  Crocus  of  all  kinds.  So  far  as  Narcissi  are  concerned 
we  can  defy  the  world,  both  in  rearing  new  and  in  growing  all  other 
varieties  to  the  greatest  perfection  of  luxuriant  health  and  beauty. 
It  is  not  easy  to  find  out  how  much  is  paid  by  us  for  imported 
bulbs  from  all  sources  every  year,  but  it  must  be  an  enormous  sum, 
and  a  very  large  proportion  of  it  might  be  spent  at  home  in  the 
encouragement  of  bulb  culture  on  English  soil.  I  am  a  believer  in 
free  trade  and  in  all  fair  trade  ;  but  above  all  do  I  believe  in  our 
home  trade  and  in  our  home  industries.  Finally,  I  believe  that 
every  bulb-grower  should  also  devote  some  of  his  leisure  to  rearing 
new  hybrids  and  seedlings,  so  that  there  may  be  progress  ahead,  as 
well  as  lateral  diffusion  in  bulb  culture. 
What  Leeds,  Backhouse,  Herbert,  Horsfield,  Engleheart,  and 
De  Graaf  have  done,  may  be  equalled  or  surpassed  by  other  culti¬ 
vators.  Beautiful  as  are  the  finest  of  our  new  seedlings  to-day 
they  are  not  perfect  in  all  ways,  and  there  is  room  and  a  welcome 
for  many  more  equal  or  superior  to  them.  It  may  not  be  so 
profitable  to  rear  seedlings  as  it  is  to  grow  quantities  of  older  kinds 
in  good  demand,  still,  given  a  perfect  bit  of  Narcissus  soil,  I  believe 
it  would  soon  pay  for  a  clever  grower  to  take  up  the  special  culture 
and  increase  of  all  the  rarest  and  most  beautiful  new  kinds.  The 
best  varieties  of  bulbs  to  grow  of  course  depend  on  soil  and 
climate,  but  all  the  best  Narcissi,  self  Tulips,  Squills,  Anemones 
(especially  A.  fulgens),  Gladioli,  Crocus,  and  Snowdrops,  are 
profitable  crops  wherever  they  will  thrive  in  quantity,  and  these 
may  be  supplemented  by  other  and  rarer  kinds. 
It  only  remains  for  me  to  acknowledge  the  honour  your 
Association  has  conferred  upon  me  by  requesting  me  to  read  a 
paper  before  your  members  ;  and,  having  many  friends,  and  many 
pleasant  memories  of  former  visits  to  Birmingham,  my  deepest 
regret  is  that  I  could  not  come  over  in  person.  Your  city  is,  and 
has  long  been,  a  centre  of  horticultural  energy  and  progress,  and  a 
history  of  that  constant  progress  would  form  one  of  the  most 
interesting  of  papers  that  could  be  read  before  you,  and  one  that  I 
hope  our  good  friends  Mr.  W.  B.  Latham  or  Mr.  W.  Spinks  will 
take  the  slight  trouble  of  laying  before  your  Association. 
[By  error  we  stated  in  our  last  issue  that  Mr.  W.  Sydenham 
was  present  at  the  reading  of  this  paper  ;  it  should  have  been 
Mr.  Robert  Sydenham.] 
HYDRANGEAS. 
This  very  useful  plant  being  so  rarely  seen  well  grown  I  thought  a 
few  remarks  on  its  somewhat  simple  requirements  might  be  useful  to 
many  of  your  readers.  Several  growers  depend  year  after  year  upon 
their  old  stock,  which  with  proper  management  may  be  grown  to  give 
excellent  results.  We  prefer,  however,  to  keep  weeding  the  oldest  out 
and  filling  their  places  with  younger  and  stronger  plants,  which  are 
flowered  in  6-inch  pots,  I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  cuttings 
rooted  early  in  the  year  and  treated  in  a  similar  manner  to  an  ordinary 
bush  Chrysanthemum  in  mode  of  stopping  would  the  following  year 
produce  twenty  fair-sized  heads  of  bloom  in  a  6-inch  pot. 
Immediately  the  plants  have  passed  their  best  we  prune  them  hard 
back,  place  them  in  a  warm  pit,  dewing  them  over  with  the  syringe  two 
or  three  times  daily,  and  when  well  broken  they  are  shaken  out  and 
repotted  in  not  too  light  a  mixture,  though  rich,  and  placed  back  in 
the  warmth,  where  they  are  allowed  to  make  a  good  portion  of  their 
growth,  afterwards  gradually  hardening  them  till  they  are  able  to  stand 
outside  on  a  bed  of  coal  ashes,  under  partial  shade  during  the  hottest 
part  of  the  summer.  Weak  applications  of  liquid  manure  are  given  each 
watering  until  the  growth  is  completed,  when  feeding  is  stopped. 
The  plants  are  allowed  to  remain  outside  to  get  a  slight  frost  to 
remove  the  foliage,  and  are  subsequently  laid  on  their  sides  under  the 
greenhouse  stage  until  the  desired  time  for  starting  has  arrived.  The 
variety  1  specially  allude  to  is  Thomas  Hogg,  of  which  we  grow  about  • 
fifty,  starting  a  few  at  a  time  to  form  a  long  succession.  We  have  at 
this  moment  about  a  dozen  plants  carrying  eight  to  twelve  trusses  of 
bloom  in  6-inch  pots.  These  when  neatly  staked  form  useful  plants  for 
table  decoration,  though  their  value  is  most  appreciated  for  church 
decoration  at  Easter. — T.  Snell,  Grimston . 
