The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-07-28
BULB GROWING.
Sections of England Are Becoming Rivals of Holland in This
 Industry.


 Only of recent years, comparatively
 speaking. has growing come to
 be accepted as a definite branch of agriculture. For the best part of
 three centuries or so Holland alone
 has regarded it in the light of an industry, and consequently the Dutch
 bulb long ago became an honored and welcome guest in the gardens of
 the world It is now some forty years perhaps since farmers in the Si- cilly Isles first turned their attention to the same direction, and their eff forts have proved strikingly success full. Latterly Jersey and Guernsey have also entered into this line of s business and recently a start has been made in certain localities of England resembling Holland in many respects. Tn what is generally known as the
 Finland parts of South Lincoln and
 cambridgeshire, and more particular
 v the neighborhood that lies around the little town of Wisbech, hereabouts on the ground that the chroniclers of
 carly history have described as
 rwampy morass and low lying fen, though long since reclaimed and brought under cultivation, bulb grow Ing as an industry is fast making headway.
 In Holland, the home of bulb grow Ing, the soil is especially suitable,
 
 Tor the Netherlands are practically the delta of the Rhine and there are Small agricultural holdings as opposed to large farms. With regard to the methods employed, there are two dis t1nct courses open to the grower; he can either cultivate the bulb, or grow the bulb for bloom, though 1t is pos- s1bie Tn some measure to combine them both. Long before the use or cut flowers came into vogue for room inr Sr,ri ir,cr hxr1I e. IL. l able amongst gardeners, and it was in catering for this latter require- ment that the Dutch made a special ty- In the Sicily Isles. on the other hand. the aim of the grower is the bloom. and this too is the chief ob- Jet of the industry more recently | started in England.
 With some 10 or 20 acres of land under bulbs. the small farmer is we'll | occupied To prepare the soil before l the bulbs are planted, fertilizers are applied and a crop of potatoes is ta- Ken on Some time in late autumn | the bulbs are planted, and they throw | up their fresh green shoots in early spring Cultivating for the bulb alone | entails. as a rule. lifting the crop an nually in order to sort the bulbs, and | size or classify them. This done the heads or first size bulbs are mar keted, and the remainder having been permitted to dry, are eventually re- r. gest size become heads the ensuing season, while the thirds or planters" and the smallest size of all or the chips. as they are termed, are gen. frally retained two years longer.
 But when growing for cut bloom he latter portion of the process is necessarily rather different The ac- -uai preparation of the land is much me same but the crop itself may be cit Tn the ground full three years. xnicn M means of course, less lifting lnd less sorting and handling of bulbs. The English grower looks ;hiehy to the bloom. He may dis ,ose periodically of certain percen- age Of the heads of first-size bulbs vnen II comes to their turn for lift ng, but ne does not as a rule, make f is speciality the bulb to the extent Ii hat IS the practice in Holland ' In small holding planted with 7 arcisso or daffodils, the methods em- loved In gathering and marketing ! he bloom are as follows: The best arvest for crop of this kind is ob- [ 1ously an early one, as these flowers | e most in demand during the few Ieeks that intervene between the lose or the chrysanthemum season |; no the arrival en masse of the spring :! iossoms. A certain amount of gla ss Il therefore considered an advantage even the smallest farm, and as a oon as the buds seem ready to break. Il iey are gathered, care being taken V DICK them as long in the stalks p possible They are then placed il noer glass in water boxes especially f. ,ntriyed for the purpose, where they V apidty burst into bloom and are T len punched together by dozens in O. ,adlness for market A number of ti iailow wooden boxes are next lined I, ii with thin blue paper, and in these e ltnout overcrowding the punches areI si atty arranged. the name of it's con- al nts is affixed to each box and the w assignment dispatched to it's destfn- tl Science Monitor.