The Library of Work and Play: Gardening and Farming.Shaw, Ellen Eddy
General
The Library of Work and Play: Gardening and Farming.
Shaw, Ellen Eddy
Gardening -- Juvenile literature
"I believe in gardens," said Albert with great finality, "but bulb work
seems to me like fancy work. And then too, bulbs are pretty expensive."
"Very well," answered Dee, "we girls are quite able, as you boys know,
to work alone. But spading is pretty hard, and I should think some of
you would be glad to help."
"I'll help any time," Myron volunteered, "and I promise to bring two of
these other chaps whenever you say."
"Thank you, Myron. We'll not bother you boys further now." Off the girls
ran to Katharine's home to study bulb catalogues. Katharine's father
gave five dollars for bulbs for the school grounds. This he stipulated
was for outdoor planting. Elizabeth and Ethel were going to plant
outdoors at home. The other girls had each some money for indoor work.
You may all like to know what the girls found out from their search in
bulb catalogues. In the first place very good and perfectly reliable
information is obtained from the catalogue of any reputable seed house.
The girls found out that certain bulbs are better adapted to outside
planting, while others do equally well indoors or out. Take tulips
first; these are suited to the outdoor conditions. To be sure the
florist, whose business it is to raise them inside does so with great
success. But boys and girls are more likely to have trouble with inside
planting of tulips than of other bulbs. Oftentimes lice cover them when
the bulb is first brought up from the cellar. Then when treated with
kerosene emulsion or some other insecticide the bud becomes blasted, for
the blossom is close under the folded outer leaves, so is in a very
precarious position. Then, too, tulip bulbs rot easily and the buds
blast easily. So it is wise not to run so many risks but try the kinds
of bulbs which are less prone to trouble. The easiest and safest bulbs
for children to work with are narcissus (including daffodils, jonquils,
Chinese lily bulbs and paper narcissus), and hyacinth.
Hyacinth has one bad habit when planted indoors. This is the tendency
to unfold its blossom too soon. So the beautiful hyacinth blossom
appears dwarfed and stunted close down near the ground. To avoid this
condition do not take the bulb from the dark until the leaves are about
an inch to two inches above the earth and until they have spread apart.
This gives the blossom a chance to shoot up. Tip the pot over and see if
the roots are visible through the drainage hole.
The time to buy bulbs is in late August or early September. After this
bulbs through shrinkage depreciate in value; by which value is meant not
one in price but in soundness and ability to produce blossoms. Do not
buy cheap or cut-rate bulbs. Buy good, big, sound ones.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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