If grown in pots, prepare a rich soil of sand and leaf mold. If impossible to get leaf mold, use a sprinkling of bone meal. Place some pieces of broken flower pots or pebbles in the bottom of the pots to drain the water off, or the bulbs will mold. If grown in prepared fibre, moisten the fibre before putting in the pot, but do not make it wet enough to wring. Plant bulbs as in soil, but do not pack in tight. After watering, turn pot on the side to drain off the water. A piece of charcoal in the bottom of the pan or pot keeps the fibre sweet. Hyacinths do well when grown in glass vases. The glass vases used are made for the purpose, and hold the bulb just above the water—not touching. The main point in growing bulbs indoors is to arrange to keep them growing in a _dark, cool_ place until the roots have formed and the leaves show about three inches. This is accomplished in several different ways. Perhaps the simplest of all is to place the pots on a cool cellar floor and cover them with ashes, which will assure their being kept in the dark. Keep them damp by watering the ashes once or twice a week. (The same idea is better carried out by the use of a _cold frame_, the making of which is described in the next chapter.) Place the pots on ashes in the frame, throwing three or four inches of ashes over them; or use dried peat moss instead of ashes. This is sold by dealers in seeds and plants. Place glass cover on the cold frame when the weather becomes severe. About three weeks before you wish them to bloom bring some of the potted bulbs into the warmth of the house. Do not place them immediately in a very warm place or in the sunlight. Give them as much fresh air as possible. After planting bulbs in prepared fibre, or hyacinths in glasses, keep them in a dark, airy closet until the roots have formed, which will be in about six weeks. Then bring them into warmth and light. The roots of the hyacinth should reach the bottom of the glasses before bringing them into the light. Daffodils and single tulips, crocuses, polyanthus narcissus (often grown in pebbles in water) all are easily forced into bloom indoors. “But,” added Billy as Bob drew a long breath, “growing bulbs indoors is a rather tedious experiment, and better not be attempted by young children,” as he pulled Mary Frances’ hair ribbon untied. “Well, neither of you would have known much, Mr. Superior Knowledge,” laughed Eleanor, “if you hadn’t studied this all within a week or so.” “Let’s begin to plant,” was Billy’s answer. CHAPTER LVII BILLY BUILDS A HOTBED DURING the Christmas holidays the children made wonderful plans for their gardens. “Everything should be started very early,” said Bob, airing his newly acquired knowledge, “and the best place to start seeds is in a hotbed.”