September  10,  1903.  JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAIE  GARDENER. 
2i5 
Bulbs  and  Their  Culture. 
At  this  season  of  the  year  the  thoughts  of  all  who  are 
interested  in  gardening  naturally  turn  to  the  consideration 
of  bulb  orders  and  bulb  culture  generally.  The  numerous 
species  and  varieties  now  plaj^  so  important  a  part  in  adding 
brightness  and  beauty  to  our  homes  and  gardens  that  it  is 
really  painful  to  imagine  how  dreary  they  would  be  without 
them. 
Too  long  we  have  depended  upon  the  Continent  for  our 
supply,  with  the  result  that  huge  sums  of  money  have  annu¬ 
ally  been  drawn  from  this  country  to  enrich  the  dwellers  in 
•other  lands  ;  because,  forsooth,  it  was  generally  supposed 
that  good  bulbs  could  not  be  propagated  and  grown  in  our 
sea-girt  home.  A  change  for  the  better  in  this  respect  has, 
however,  been  gradually 
taking  place  during  the  last 
ten  years,  and  now  the 
finest  samples  of  Daffodils, 
Tulips,  and  Hyacinths, 
grown  in  Britain,  are  equal 
in  point  of  merit  to  those  ob¬ 
tainable  from  any  other 
source. 
Lincolnshire  and  Ireland 
must  each  claim  a  large 
share  of  credit  for  this  im¬ 
proved  state  of  affairs,  and 
it  is  to  be  hoped  that  bulb 
culture  will  still  extend 
until  Britain  supplies  the 
greater  portion  of  her  own 
requirements.  In  order  to 
encourage  the  home  trade, 
purchaser's  should  remember 
the  above  facts,  and  en¬ 
deavour  to  obtain  the  pro¬ 
ducts  of  their  own  land. 
It  is  always  a  wise  plan  to 
order  eai’ly,  as  the  best 
samples  are  disposed  of  first, 
and  those  who  rely  upon 
being  able  to  pick  up  cheap 
lots  at  sales  often  find  them 
to  be  dear,  on  account  of 
their  unsatisfactory  results. 
For  early  forcing  the  fol¬ 
lowing  can  be  strongly  re-o/. 
commended  :  White  Roman 
Hyacinth,  Double  Flesh- 
coloured  Italian,  Paper 
White  Narcissus  (grandi- 
flora),  and  the  Double  Ro¬ 
man.  Tulips :  Due  jVan 
Thol  (scarlet).  La  Reine, 
Pottebakker  (white,  yellow, 
and  scarlet).  Rose  Gris  de 
Lin  (rose  and  white),  and 
Proserpine  (salmon).  Daffo¬ 
dils  :  Princeps  and  Van 
Sion.  These  should  be 
grown  in  quantity'  where 
there  is  a  greart^  demand  for 
cut  flowers,  andithe  Roman 
Hyacinths,  early=»  Narcissus,  •  ■ 
and  Tulips' mdy 'be  fhad  in  ^  sh,. 
flower  from  the.  beginning  of  November  onwards,. .and  the 
Daffodils  at’  Ghristmas,  to  be  followed  by  =>th^  choicer 
varieties  \iritNiarge  trumpets.  Where  the  .above  have  not 
been  already  obtained  they  should  be  ordered  ait  once,  and 
potted  or  planted-dn  boxes  as  soon  as  received.^.  ■ 
In  selecting' bulbs  one  should  never  be  led  away  by 
mei'e  size,  as  the  best  samples  are  heavy  in  proportion,  to 
their  size,  and  have  a  smooth  clear  skin  instead  of  being 
rough  and  scaly  on  the  outside  (see  illustration. on,  page  257). 
The  bulb  contains  the  plant  and  flower  in  the  embryo  ;  and 
although  it  is  not  possible  to  add  a  single  additional  belt  to 
a  Hyacinth  spike  by  subsequent  tffeatmeht,  yet  good  culture 
will  do  much  towards  securing  the  fullest  possible  develop¬ 
ment  to  the  baby  plant  within  the  bulb  ;  and,  on  the  other 
hand,  unsuitable  treatment  will  prevent  full  development, 
and  in  some  cases  prevent  flowering  altogether,  even  when 
the  finest  samples  of  bulbs  have  been  obtained.  It  is,  there¬ 
fore,  a  matter  of  the  greatest  importance  that  the  soil  used 
for  potting,  and  the  subsequent  treatment,  are  both  suit¬ 
able.  Some  writers  aver  that  it  matters  but  little  what  soil 
is  used  for  potting ;  but  let  me  urge  cultivators  not  to 
accept  this  theory  as  being  generally  correct,  as  I  have  seen 
far  too  many  failures  through'  following  such  advice.  The 
great  desideratum  is  not  so  much  to  use  a  rich  soil  as  to 
get  a  rooting  medium  comparatively  free  from  insects  and 
fungoid  spores.  Soil  which  has  been  used  for  growing  early 
crops  of  Tomatoes  often  answers  well  with  the  addition  of 
a  little  leaf  soil  and  sharp  sand  ;  but  in  some  cases  such  a 
soil  is  so  full  of  eelworms  as  to  entirely  prevent  satisfactory 
root  action. 
Good  garden  soil  which  has  been  dried,  turned  a  few 
times,  and  enriched  with  leaf  soil  and  wood  ashes,  will  often 
answer  as  well  as  anything.  A  friable  turfy  loam  which  has 
become  mellow  with  age  also 
answers  splendidly  with  the 
addition  of  leaf  soil  and 
sand  ;  but  freshly  cut  turfy 
soil  is  not  suitable,  as  roots 
do  not  work  freely  in  it  until 
the  fibre  has  considerably 
decayed.  When  there  is  a 
doubt  about  the  suitability 
of  any  soil,  the  safest  course 
is  to  burn  it,  and  it  will  then 
always  be  found  satisfactory. 
When  natural  manures  are 
added  they  should  always  be 
thoroughly  dried  and  passed 
through  a  fine  sieve  ;  but  I 
prefer  steamed  bonemeal  at 
the  rate  of  a  6in  potful  to  a 
bushel  of  compost. 
All  pots  should,  of  course, 
be  well  but  not  excessively 
drained,  and  when  showy 
potfuls  for  decorative  pur¬ 
poses  are  required,  the  bulbs 
may  be  aiTanged  as  closely 
as  possible.  When,  however, 
extra  fine  individual  flowers 
are  required,  a  little  more 
space  must  be  allowed.  In 
the  case  of  Tulips  and  Ro¬ 
man  Hyacinths  six  to  a  6in 
pot  answer  well. 
When  very  early  forcing  is 
carried  out,  it  is  not  easy  to 
get  all  the  flowers  in  a  pot 
to  open  simultaneously.  The 
general  practice,  therefore, 
is  to  force  in  boxes  and 
transfer  to  pots — or  to  other 
receptacles  used  for  decora¬ 
tive  purposes  —  when  the 
flowers  are  almost  fully  de¬ 
veloped. 
In  the  case  of  bulbs  grown 
for  supplying  cut  flowers 
throughout  the  winter  and 
early  spring,  boxes  should 
be  used  in  preference  to  pots 
on  account  of  economy,  the 
result  being  quite  as  good  as 
under  any  other  system.  The 
t  bulbs  should  be  arranged  in  the  boxes  so  as  to  touch  each 
other,  the  crown  of  each  being  just  visible  upon  the  surface 
soil.  A  light  sprinkling  of  sand  on  the  top  will  allow  the 
liinging  material  to  come  away  easily  when  the  pots  or 
oxes  are  removed. 
The  great  demand  for  cocoa-nut  fibre  has  sent  the  price 
up  so  high  during  recent  years  that  very  few  can  afford  to 
use  it  largely  for  plunging  purposes,  for  which  it  is  so 
splendidly  adapted.  A  substitute  is  found  in  the  shape  of 
fine  shavings  and  sawdust  from  hard  woods,  and  now  often 
used  and  then  we  have  that  useful  material  coal  ashes. 
This  forms  capital  plunging  material  provided  it  has  been 
exposed  to  the  weather  for  some  weeks,  or,  better  still, 
months,  to  allow  the  deleterious  properties  to  escape. 
An  excellent  plan  is  to  save  such  materials  throughout 
the  summer,  and  then  pass  them  through  a  half-inch  sieve 
before  using  for  plunging  purposes.  Surround  the  pots  or 
Naturalised  Daffodils. 
