Mountain Home bulletin. (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1888-1889, 1888-12-15
EULBOUS PLANTS.



How They Are Grown.
1t was beautiful morning. The
sky OF spotless deep blue and the soft !
breeze which blew through the trees !
shook the leaves and motioned them |
into strains OF sweet, dreamy music.
On each. side of the road the country
looked like two immense crazy quilts.
whose patches were represented by
large fields OF hyacinths in hundxed
different varieties Of color and size, as
we'll as tulips and narcissus. The
sight was grand, as we'll as novel, for
any one who had never been In this
part of the world. Arrived at Sessen-
helm, was Immediately guided into
the field, where the growth and the
methods OF propagation were explained
10 me. Sour soil here" was told.
''is especially adapted for the cultiva-
tion OF bulbs. because 1t has all the
properties which are necessary for the
plants to grow. The soil, Us you see,
is very sandy, and we believe that this
part OF Holland was formerly-perhaps
several thousand years ago-the bed OF
the sea. But the soil varies, and 1t is
not ut all rare to see hyacinths growing
in one place when In the field adjoin-
ing they would not grow at all.
.'In September the bulbs are put in
to the soil. and in December they are
covered up with layer Of hay. Thus
they remain until February, when the
hay covering is removed again. Then
the plant comes out in bloom; they are
allowed to be in blossom until July,
when the flowers and stems are cut OFF,
as grass is mown in the meadow"
When my informant came to this
part Of his explanation said:
"And what do you do with the bios
SONS; do you sell them?"
mo, not at all. We let the flowers
lie on the field to rot, and use them az
manure!"
"When do you take the bulbs out oi
the groundp" said.
Immediately after the blossoms are
cut Off. We gather them out OF the
ground, and we take them to the dry
house. After they have been there we
examine them and place them on
shelves. Come with me and l will
show you. Here we are. Those that
are in condition to be shipped We
place over here on this shelf, while
those that are too young TO be used fol
propagation are gathered and stored
over here"
"How old has the bulb to be before
1t is shipped for salep"
"Four years the ordinary hyacinth
but the narcissus and tulip only three
years"
"Do you ever use artificial method.
in the propagation OF bulbs, or is it al
left TO naturep"
'.Some bulbs do not require the ait
OF art. but others do. There are tw,
ways Of artificial propagation. One i
called cutting and the other holing. !
we cut bulb we make several incision
crosswise over the top of the bulb be
fore we put them in the ground, and
is in these incisions the new bulbs ar
formed. 'Holing' bulb means +
separate the top part entirely, allow
!, ing the new bulb to form in this hol
low"
"Is the expectation OF bulbs to Amer
} lea very large?" asked my informant
"Yes, and constantly on the increase
Not many years ago there were abou
Eve bulb-growers in Harlem who ser
. their goods directly to America. and OF
1 firm was one OF the first to comment
i, it, but now nearly all of them trade
= the States The cultivation OF bul
plants appears to be very much fancie
; in America, especially tulips, and II
r experience has taught me that the g,
i portation OF tulips becomes larger ever
; year. The consequence has been th
9 they have gone up in price very consi
> rrably, and to-day the tulip Is the dea
, est of all bulb plants. Holland Co
d fiusburqh Dispatch.