Los Angeles herald., 1907-10-13

ing. The safest investment for the mex.
perienced amateur is the big narcissus
bulb, usually known as the Chinese sa-
cred lily. The bulb is cheap comes read
lily into bloom and If placed in sunny
window will produce its spikes Of fra
grant flowers with great certainty. As a
house plant 1t has the drawback that its
foliage looks too much Ike spring leeks
to be ornamental. The way to get around
that is to grow them in a mass. Three or
four bulbs should be grown together in
a Japanese bowl or other receptacle that
will have an ornamental effect No earth
will be needed but the bulbs should be
covered with pebbles or coarse sand to
keep them from tipping over under the
weight Of the foliage they will throw up,
and then the receptacle should be kept filed
with water. 1t is always well to keep
the bulbs in cool. dark place for two
or three weeks until root growth is well
established before they are brought into
the light to bloom. have often left my
bulbs to sprout In the dark, so that when
I brought them out the shoots were as
white as potatoes that have sprouted in
cellar but they color up promptly
when brought into the Light.
Another bulb that is easy to handle
and which produces delicious clumps of
fragrant blooms Is the Paper White Mar
cissus grandifora. They too only need
water. warmth and light to come into
bloom, but in practice It Is better to. pot
them in sandy soil, putting several
bulbs to a pot. They can be placed SO
close that they viii nearly or even quite
touch. Keep them In a dark, cool place
until they have made root growth and
then bring them into the light 1t is a
good way to leave them in the dark until
the sprouts are well up above the soil
Another point to keep well in mind is
that too much warmth Is dangerous. The
best results are obtained by keeping the
growing bulbs In cool place. Provided
that frost is kept out 1t can hardly be
too cool. When the flower spikes are well
up and are ready to open an atmosphere
as warm as the ordinary living room in
winter will be proper. Most Of us are IN
the habit Of keeping our rooms too warm
and If we accustomed ourselves to tenn
peratures in which green house flowers
would be happy 1t would be better for u.s.
For trial trip in bulb growing in the
house, the amateur would do well to be
been named. They are sure producers
and will give satisfaction under condi-
tions in which tulips and hyacinths would
fail. And yet the latter will respond to
the same treatment If care Is taken to
get good plump bulbs that will force
easily. The florists catalogues may be
depended upon to indicate the right varie-
ties point that needs attention is the
disposition Of the spikes from these bulbs
TO stick fast just as they push out. The
way to guard against this is to invert an
empty flower pot over the growing bulb
so that it will have to stretch its neck
to reach the light. Or. instead Of the
flower pots, cones Of paste-board may be
used. Hyacinth growing In glasses made
for that special purpose Is well known
and the process is successful If given
strict attention, but single spikes OF
bloom obtained In this way have rather a
forlorn aspect to me. like to get win
ter flowers In bunches and l get them
easily from narcissus In the way de-
scribed above.