BULB GROWING.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 67, 20 March 1937, Page 6 (Supplement)

BULB GROWING.

AN INTERESTING HISTORY

Not the least of Nature's wonders is

the loveliness and the variety of bulbous plants, and these are particularly valuable to the gardener. The bulb i< really a storehouse of food. Before it becomes a bulb the leaves have to do their work of manufacturing living matter from the plant food in the soil and in the air, mid this living matter

exists through the winter months in the bulbs. The successful flowering, therefore, of a bulbous plant does not depend on the fertility of the soil in which it is flowered, but on the conditions under which the bulb was formed. The town grower can* buy bulbs that have been reared in ideal conditions, and can transfer them to his somewhat poor garden where sunshine and air are none too plentiful, and can still be sure that they will flower well. Bulbous plants have developed this habit of storing food from one season to be used the next, because of the conditions in which they grow in their wild state. Many of our spring flowering bulbs are natives of the woodland. They are able to store up plenty of food supplies during the summer months, when warmth, air and moisture and rich soil are available, but they like to open their flowers if possible in the sunshine and they have therefore developed the habit of "flowering in the early spring before the woodland trees become leafy and shade them too heavily. This makes spring bulbs ideal, not only for the town gardens, but for the shadier parts of open country gardens. Spring bulbs are associated in most of our minds with Holland, but actually in many cases they came from the Far East. Tulips, for example, found their way from Persia and Asia Minor to Constantinople. There an ambassador of the Emperor Ferdinand I. saw them at the Sultan's court, and sent some home to Central Europe. Through Bavaria they eventually reached Holland some time in the sixteenth century. The thrilling novel of Alexandre Dumas, "La Tulipe Noire" ("The Black Tulip"), related in vivid fashion the excitement which prevailed among tulip growers in the early part of the seventeenth century. This excitement gradually developed into mere speculation, until fabulous sums—in one instance £450 a bulb—were being paid for tulips. This ridiculous speculation was stopped only by a proclamation issued by the State of Holland. Hyacinths became, a century later, subjects for speculation in much the same way as the tulips had done, but fortunately the prices soon returned to normal. During all this time the cultivation of bulbs in Holland was becoming a work of national importance, and the bulb industry there has developed along scientific lines ever since. It is only of comparatively recent years that the bulb industry has been carried on to any great extent in the British Isles; but already Britain is to the forefront in the cultivation of new varieties of daffodils and there are indications that in the near future bulb growing may be established on a much larger scale in many parts of this country. Every kind of bulb has its individuality, and likes, perhaps, slightly different treatment from others; but there are general

terms in which one can advise on bulb cultivation which will apply to practically eveiyr kind. Take first the simplest form of bulb growing, that of planting bulbs in the garden border. Bulbs, as we have already said, are storehouses of plant food. They do not, therefore, need an extraordinarily rich soil, though if it is intended that they should grow on from year to year they will naturally need feeding to recuperate their strength after the dowers are over. targe supplies of manure are unnecessary for garden borders where bulbs will be lifted immediately after flowering. The soil must, however, be deeply dug so that the drainage is good. Bulbs allowed to stand in stagnant water will rapidly decay. When dealing with clay soil, which holds moisture, it will be found beneficial to allow the base of each bulb to rest on a little sand. This prevents water from collecting round the bulb. Planting of bulbs is best done with a trowel. If a dibber be used on heavy soils there is a tendency for the soil'under the bulb to cake hard and the roots are not able to penetrate freely. On light sandy soils a dibber is permissible. It is advisable to lay out the bulbs first on the surface of the bonier before any planting is done. This ensures that the planting is even. The time to plant— which varies for each kind of bulb—is generally as early as convenient after the bulbs have been harvested and properly ripened. That is to say. plant your bulbs as soon as they are olfered on the market. The long period of growth which you give them by early planting improves the <|uality 'of the blooms. Tulips are an exception, and late planting is best for these, otherwise they appear above the ground too soon and nay be damaged by frost.