St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1893-08-26
HOLLANDS GARDENS.


HOLLANDS GARDENS.
eDnesss Values fer which D.lbs Sen 4.
the Heme Of the Dutch.
The bulb farmer Of Holland has -
do . great deal before he gets hi0
ground to his mind. Along the coast
stretch the sand dune hills. This ma
tural protection has been raised In ages
past by the action of the wind. The
sand heaps cover the original vegeta-
tion. This vegetation has become peat
When the farmer has cleared away
both sand and peat he has the ground
on which to plant his bulbs ground
for the lack of the like of which other
than Dutch farmers are said to have
less luck in bulb-growing.
end of April or the beginning Of May.
and find the country round Hsarlem
one blaze of color. you will notice that
the land in which tulips and hyacipths
are Towering is several yards beneath
the original surface.
What once was . sand-hill II now
cultivated land. What once was road
over the dune is now an embankment.
The excavated sand taken away on small
barges by little canals for use In dyke
and dock construction elsewhere re-
allies about enough to cover the ex-
penses Of digging it out and smoothing
over the land, and surrounding It by
small trees.
The trees having been reared to keep
of the cold, the farmers first task IL
to thoroughly dig and manure the land
Then he plants y crop Of potatoes
Ia September they are taken out, the
ground is once more thoroughly shaken
up and manured-the special manure
costs no less than three hundred dol
lars an acre, and this is IN annual ex-
pense. The actual planting Of the bulb
is carried out by digging long yard
broad, few inches deep, trenches, in
which the roots are set singly 1t equal
distances apart. The trenches are COW
cred with sand.
No one seems to know how many
bulbs are grown in Holland, but the
extent of the industry may be gath
cred from the fact that the Society of
Persons interested in bulb growing has
no fewer than fourteen branches
The organization retains experts in
hyacinth disease, and the life history
of the narcissus fly. 1t also makes its
members sign . declaration that they
will not sell cut flowers ''either into
the country or to foreign parts. except
for samples, exhibitions and private re.
joicings" The cutting Of flowers in
jures the character Of next years crop.
OF course, it is many, many years
ago since we suffered from the tulip
mania, when roots actually changed
hands at 81, 900 and q, 500.
1t is just because of late years the
price of bulbs has decreased so much
that the trade has grown SO greatly.
For few quarters IL is possible to
get a fair assortment direct from the
Dutch grower.
The hyacinth is still the bulb grown
in the biggest quantities One farmer
apportions his eighty acres rs follows:
Hyacinths, twenty-five; tulips. twenty;
crocus. eighteen; narcissus, twelve;
lily of the valley, lilies, iris and spires
the remainder. The stock is worth one
hundred thousand dollars.
In another large garden, to . ques-
tion rs to how many different sorts Of
bulbs were grown, the farmer said 49,.
600 sorts. and gave the following fig
ures: Tulips, 1900; gladioluses, 1000;
hyacinths, E700; irises, 900; peonies,
900; amsryllids, 500; crocuses, 800; mar.
cissus, 800: ranunculuses, 800; lilies, 800;
dahlias, 500; ixias. ETC., 800; anemones,
800, etc, etc. Fifty gardeners were en-
ployed.
1t goes without saying that the bulb
farmer has his troubles. The English
weather is bad, but only such patient,
long-suffering folk rs the Dutch could
put up with the samples" vouchsafed
in Holland.
Nor is the rain and cold the bulb
farmers only anxiety. One of tho
sights of Holland is often missed by tho
casual visitor. When you 60 over .
canal bridge watch till you see Dutch
rat. t..
They are big healthy fellows. with .
pretty taste for bulbs, and from the
evening of the day on which the farm
er puts them into the ground they be-
gin to help themselves.
The rat having dug up his treasure.
takes it home and scoops il out at his
leisure.
Rat-traps and an ingenious system Of
trenches serve the farmer ~ best they
can, but the Dutch rat still remains
one of the most appreciative lovers Of
the Dutch bulb.-Boston Globe.