The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1906-09-15

BY Mrs. II. f.. W. Bancroft
bulbOus Plants In the Home Window.
1t Is greatly to be deplored that SO
few people realize the fact that the
beautiful dubious plants forced into
winter and early spring blooming, and
offered for sale by the florists at al
most prohibitive prices. in so far as
the masses are concerned, can be pur-
chased for few cents each. and grown
to perfection even by the children, and
In any and all homes. l shall this
week mention few of those most GER
tain to bloom with the least care. And
strange to say. those are the most de-
sirable, and best loved Of all.
Hyacinthx.
The Roman hyacinths are the ear
Hest, and to me the most beautiful and
satisfactory from every standpoint.
Each bulb will send up from two to
four flower stalks. entrancingly grace
full and artistic in form, whereas, the
Dutch bulbs rarely send up more than
one of their stiff clumsy inartistic
bloom stalks. The bulbs of the Ro-
man family being small makes 1t pos
sible to plant three or four in a five
or six inch pot, thus giving a pleasing
amount of both foliage and blooms,
enhancing the beauty of the dainty
graceful little bell-shaped flowers eX-
ceedingly. They can be procured in
white. china, and the darker blues, and
through numerous shades of pink to
the reds. The white are finest of all,
and with me have ever proved strong
est. giving more and finer sprays of
flowers than any of the colored varie-
ties. These bulbs are very cheap, one
can purchase them for ten cents each,
or forty cents per dozen, that is, good
large. heavy bulbs, and let me tell you
what l have learned from a sad ex-
perience,-never purchase cheap or job
lots in bulbs; it simply means disap-
pointments and wasted time and mon
ey. And in selecting bulbs remember
that 1t is not so much the size as the
compactness, therefore the heft of the
cellent quality, and sure to give splen-
did blooms. This is true of all bull
bous roots. however, always purchase
large, or first bulbs; and be sure they
are firm and heavy. The second size
will be good blooming sized bulbs, but
will not possess the vitality of those
of the first size, hence will give infer
Tor spikes of bloom.
Dutch Hyacinthx.
This variety bears larger spikes,
and larger flowers than the Romans,
they are, however, as sure to bloom, as
easily cared for and can be had in
either single or double flowers, and
in an infinite variety of shades and
colors. might give the names of
MANY fino sOrfc hit ic mot odvic
able to do so, because of the fact that
all reliable catalogues will give such
information with perfect accuracy.
The Tulip.
OF all the Dutch bulbs, tulips are
the most varied in form and coloring,
and give the greatest display for the
least money. They are certainly roy
al beauties, and sometimes when
look at their glorious colorings I do
not marvel at the mania which seized
upon the staid old Hollanders and
made then virtually insane to possess
the finest bulbs, so strong did this
passion grow that it became violent
epidemic, and was called tulipmania,
claiming for its victims all grades and
classes of people, and leading to dis
asters and misery such as the records
of commerce or bankruptcies can
scarcely parallel. History tells us that
In many of the great cities of Europe
marts were established where tulip
bulbs were sold and resold in the same
manner as stocks are sold today in
our stock exchange. That the rich
and the nobility exchanged houses,
land and invaluably precious personal
effects for single bulb. The bizarres
and byblOemens were the varieties
which caused the mania. They were
very rare at that time, and considered
gorgeously beautiful, yet they could
not compare with the grand varieties
which our florists have since pro-
duced, combining as they now do, all
the wonderful colorings produced by
the birth Of the morning, the glories
of sunsets, and the splendor of the
rainbow.
Great quantities of tulips are forced
each year by our florists, and this can
be done with just as great success by
the amateur, and in the ordinary liv-
ing room. To insure the best of sue
cess, procure the best named varieties,
have soil, pots and drainage at hand
that the planting may be done immed-
lately upon the arrival of the bulbs.
This is very essential, since all bulbs
lose vitality when exposed to the air.
One may plant the bulbs singly, in
four or five inch pots, as is done by
the florists, but l greatly prefer to
plant both hyacinths and tulips in lit
tie wooden boxes. made eightinches
square. and six inches deep, in which
the bulbs can be planted quite closely,
| giving a most splendid effect
Soil.
For all Dutch bulbs, l prefer loose
fibrous soil, which is best produced by
combining two-thirds of our woods
earth with one-third of clean sharp
sand; this Is not very rich, but I
have found that the finest blooms can
be produced by planting in such soil,
and then after the pots are brought
to the light, giving a good liquid fer
tilizer once a week until the flower
stalk appears. Never allow a fertil-
izer to come in contact with the bulb,
pour 1t into the pot saucer, or II boxes
are used, set them in shallow pan
containing the liquid, and let the roots
take it up.
| How to Plant.
| Be sure that there are good sized
holes in the bottom of the pots or
boxes for drainage purposes, place
layer of broken crockery in the bot
tom then layer of charcoal. The
charcoal will not only keep the soil
sweet. but will greatly intensity the
colorings Of the blossoms: next put