r for this crop,
almost any amount of it may be put on in the fall before planting, to be
leached and subdued by the changes of winter, but it is hardly safe to
spread it on the ground in the spring and plow it under, lest it come in
contact with the bulbs and cause the growing crop to be scabby and
unsalable. I have used for many years, and with most satisfactory
results, a good potato phosphate. Any complete commercial fertilizer
will answer the purpose. I once tried a ton of Peruvian guano, as an
experiment, but it did no better than the potato phosphate, which costs
less.

Commercial fertilizer may be applied in various ways,--before planting
or after, or in the furrows. From five hundred to one thousand pounds
per acre, or even more, may be used, according to the previous condition
of the land and the results desired. When used before planting, it is
put on with a grain drill, or, if the area is small, is raked in by
hand. It may be applied in the furrow in two ways--first, strew it along
in the bottom and mix it with the soil by dragging a chain or a hoe over
it, or by using the cultivator that made the drill. Then plant the
bulbs, and cover properly. Second, after the drill is made and the bulbs
are dropped, cover them with a little earth, say half the depth of the
furrow, then put in the fertilizer by hand, and finish covering. This
places it where the first good rain will wash its richness down to the
roots. When applied after planting, it may be scattered by hand along
the rows or over the bed. This plan produces good results, even on poor
land, and the same may be said of the others.

CHAPTER IV.

Time to Plant.

Large blooming bulbs may be planted in April or May, or they may be held
until June, or even July, if they can be kept from growing too much in
storage. It is their natural instinct to send out roots and shoots in
the spring, and when they do they should be planted soon. When one has a
considerable quantity of flowering bulbs, it is easy to secure a long
succession of bloom by planting at several different times. Good sized
bulbs will bloom in about ninety days after planting. Smaller ones
require a longer time. If all the blooming sizes of the same variety are
planted at the same time, they will bloom in regular succession, the
largest first and the smallest last. Small bulbs,--too small to
bloom,--bulblets, and seed, should be planted early in order to have
plenty of time to make their