LIFTING AND STORING NARCISSUS BULBS.

Press, Volume XLV, Issue 7214, 27 November 1888, Page 6

LIFTING AND STORING NARCISSUS BULBS.

« There has for some time past been carried on the columns of the Gardenee's Chronicle, a controversy on the above subject. As might be expected there is a wide divergence of opinion on the subject, but the majority of opinions seem to incline to the practice annual lifting, especially in the case of certain more delicate forms of Narcissus. One distinguished bulb-growersays:—-•' There cannot possibly be any question as to the benefit attending annual replanting in ordinary seasons on all noils where leaves {and roots die off simultaneously. The. new roots strike out into fresh sou, and obtain a good form, level quality, and a vigor not attainable In any other way. It is the Dutch plan." Mr Walker recommends drying them in trays and planting the bulbs at once after having been cleaned. " If stored. Iα biilk after having been cleaned ibey- will become mildewed, and it spread oat they will get deteriorated, I believe there la n.a moi-Q daager by a bulb being gut of tfte ground a month or six vfeeEs, having a rest, tbau there is for a inaq OT seven hours'sleep out of tw^oty-foutf: and cleaning is jest as cq&« ductlvo to its health as it is for (tnnnta have a good wash after a qisH*** $ci* bt» fore starting work. wa> % time when it was gtf «HfeWa ***$***! but af te* to. 33!), I was obliged to drj a,u,q cjean, ng-f BSlb* Before sending

them out to my easterners. Those unsold and planted later than those that had not been cleaned and dried, came up earlier and flowered stronger—so much so, that the difference .was discernible fifty yards away.; therefore my custom is dig, dry, clean, and pliant. There may be sou and situations where it may not be necessary to go to all this trouble and expense. I have simply given my experience as I have found It.* Mr F. W. Burbridge, another wellknown Authority on bulb-growing, thus concludes a long and exhaustive article on the subject:—"To sum up, my advice to amateurs is as follows:— Plant early. On dry sandy, or even on deep, loamy soils, if well drained, plant deeply, say six, nine, or, on very light soils, twelve inches deep. Use no manures, but replant on fresh land a year or two after it has been manured for other crops. Replant a third of the entire stock every year, just as the leaves die away. On strong, damp soils plant shallow, two, three, four inches deep only. On wet subsoils plant on raised beds welldrained below, planting shallow and in the most sunny positions. Delicate sorts should be replanted in fresh soil every year. Burnt earth and sea sand are valuable for dressing the soil in which Narcissi are grown, and on wet soil the bulbs should be covered with sand when planted.