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United States Department of Agriculture, 
 
 DEPARTMENT CIRCULAR 65. 
 
 Contribution from the Bureau of Plant Industry, 
 
 Office of Congressional Seed Distribution, 
 
 WM. A. TAYLOR, Chief. 
 
 DISTRIBUTION OF TULIP AND NARCISSUS BULBS IN 1919. 
 
 DIRECTIONS FOR PLANTING. 
 
 The bulbs sent are of two kinds — (1) tulip and (2) narcissus. 
 (Figs. 1 and 2.) 
 
 These bulbs should be planted in friable rich soil, devoid of rank 
 and unrotted or poorly incorporated manures. It should be dug 
 to a depth of 12 to 15 inches. The tulip bulbs should be set 5 inches 
 
 Fig. 1. — Bulb of tulip. 
 
 Fig. 2. — Bulb of narcissus. 
 
 apart and 4 inches deep and the narcissus bulbs about 10 inches 
 apart and 5 inches deep. The tulips should be planted some time 
 during October, preferably about the middle of the month. The 
 narcissuses should be planted some time between the middle of Sep- 
 tember and the last of October, preferably about the first of October. 
 If they are to be grown in pots or window boxes, light, rich soil 
 should be used. Place 1 to 2 inches of cinders or broken pots in the 
 bottoms of the pots or boxes to insure good drainage. After plant- 
 ing, place the pots or boxes out of doors and cover them with about 4 
 inches of ashes or sand ; or they may be placed in a dark cool room 
 or cellar for a few weeks, until the bulbs have formed a quantity of 
 roots. They may then be brought into the light and heat for 
 flowering. Keep the soil well moistened from time of planting, but 
 avoid overmoistening, for if kept too wet the bulbs will decay. 
 
 133277—19 
 
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2 TULIP AND NARCISSUS BULBS IN 1919. 
 
 CULTIVATION. 
 
 If planted in beds, the surface of the soil should be loosened after 
 each rain and the bed kept free from weeds. In the late fall or 
 early winter months it is well to cover the beds with a light mulch 
 of straw or leaves to prevent injury to the young roots from the al- 
 ternate freezing and thawing of the soil. This mulch should be 
 gradually removed in spring, as soon as growth appears above 
 ground. The bulbs are quite hardy and are not injured by severe 
 cold if the soil is well drained. 
 
 LIFTING AND DIVIDING. 
 
 Tulip and narcissus plants are perennial, and if given proper care 
 and grown under suitable soil and climatic conditions will increase 
 and multiply from year to year. The bulbs may remain in the 
 ground two or three years, or until the clumps begin to crowd. After 
 blossoming in the spring, from six to eight weeks should elapse to 
 allow the foliage to die partially down, when the bulbs may be lifted 
 with a spade or fork. Shake the soil from the roots and store the 
 bulbs in a cool, shady place where they will ripen and cure. When 
 the old leaves and roots are thoroughly dry they may be easily 
 rubbed off and the clusters of bulbs divided. The bulbs may then 
 be planted in the same manner as the original bulbs. In this way 
 the stock may be increased in a few years. It is seldom advisable, 
 however, to leave tulips undug. 
 
 NATURALIZING THE NARCISSUS. 
 
 The narcissus often becomes naturalized when planted in the sod 
 or partial shade, where it will continue to grow, blossom, and multi- 
 ply for many years without further attention. Simply make a small 
 hole in the soil 5 or 6 inches deep, insert the bulb, pointed end up, 
 press the soil over the top, and nature will do the rest. For natural- 
 izing, avoid planting in rows or rigid geometrical figures. A good 
 plan is to scatter the bulbs like seed and plant where they fall. This 
 method of planting is entensively followed in the home grounds and 
 parks of England and of countries in Europe. In portions of North 
 Carolina, on large estates along the James River in Virginia, and in 
 old gardens in New England, narcissuses that were planted over half 
 a century ago are still growing vigorously and every spring produce 
 beautiful displays of blossoms. 
 
 VARIETIES. 
 
 Several hundred varieties of both tulip and narcissus are listed in 
 the catalogues of florists and seedsmen. Narcissus is the botanical 
 name for the genus of which the daffodil and the jonquil are species. 
 
 The narcissus with large trumpets and flat leaves is commonly 
 called the daffodil. Jonquils have glossy, dark-green, very narrow, 
 three-cornered, or rushlike leaves. Most of the intermediate forms 
 are hybrids. New varieties are originated by growing bulbs from 
 seed resulting from crossing one type with another. This is a slow 
 process, as several years are required to produce a mature bulb from 
 seed. 
 
 vl 7 1933 
 
 IN OF DOCUMENTS 
 

 
 TULIP AND NARCISSUS BULBS IN 1919. 
 DESCRIPTION OF VARIETIES. 
 
 The following Holland bulbs are included in the congressional dis- 
 tribution : 
 
 TULIPS. 
 
 So many varieties of tulips (fig. 3) are included in the distribution that it is 
 not practicable to give a detailed description of each. The varieties are, how- 
 ever, conveniently grouped into the following categories: 
 
 (1) A mixture of varieties well adapted for bedding, and most of them for 
 early forcing as well. 
 
 (2) A mixture of varieties of single late tulips, including a few varieties of 
 Darwins. These are con- 
 sidered mainly bedding 
 tulips. 
 
 (3) A mixture of 
 standard commercial va- 
 rieties of Darwin tulips. 
 These are nearly all 
 large, robust plants, and 
 many are adapted to 
 both bedding and forc- 
 ing. This group of 
 tulips is gaining in favor 
 yearly in this country. 
 The Darwins as a class 
 are the most robust of 
 all the tulips, and when 
 properly treated are 
 really massive in stem, 
 flower, and leaf. They 
 are especially adapted 
 for bedding, although of 
 late years several of the 
 varieties are being forced 
 with good results. Be- 
 ing very vigorous, they 
 thrive under more ad- 
 verse conditions than 
 most of the other forms 
 and are seldom dis- 
 appointing. There are 
 many varieties, and the 
 colors range from a very 
 dark maroon throug h 
 various shades of yellow, 
 red, and purple to white, 
 but there is almost no 
 danger of clashes in 
 mixtures of varieties as 
 there is in other classes 
 of tulips. The Darwins 
 are among the latest of 
 the tulips coming into 
 
 blossom usually in early May in the southern portion of the United States. For 
 growing in that part of the country, the Darwins are to be preferred to the 
 early tulips. 
 
 (4) A mixture of bizarre varieties — those peculiar bronze-hued forms little 
 seen in this country. 
 
 NAECISSUSES. 
 
 Barrii Conspicuus. — This narcissus has a large soft-yellow perianth and a 
 short or intermediate form of cup, edged with orange scarlet. (Fig. 4, b.) 
 
 Sir Watkin. — This giant Welsh daffodil has a bold, large chalice cup flower 
 of sulphur and orange yellow and where well grown stands fully 18 inches high. 
 
 Victoria. — This is one of the best of the bicolor trumpet varieties, having a 
 large flower with white perianth and large yellow flaring trumpet. 
 
 Empress. — Another bicolor trumpet, an old favorite standard variety, with 
 longer and narrower trumpet and purer white perianth than the Victoria. 
 
 Fig. 3. — Blossom of tulip. 
 
LIBRAE OF CONGRESS 
 
 4 TULIP AND NARCISSUS BULBS 
 
 Double Von Sion. — The common yellow daffodi q 000 924 **£L™ 
 
 and is extensively forced for winter decoration ir ^umry. It is of no 
 
 value after the first year except in the North Pacific and Atlantic coast sec- 
 tions, and possibly in the Great Lakes region. 
 
 Prmceps Maximus. — Another long-trumpet, early variety which forces well, 
 but the flower does not last as well as the others. 
 
 WHERE DUTCH BULBS ARE GROWN. 
 
 Tulips and narcissuses, as well as hyacinths, are known generally 
 as Dutch bulbs, because the growing and marketing of these bulbs is 
 one of the principal industries of the Netherlands. Bulbs are also 
 grown extensively in southern France, in England, Ireland, and the 
 island of Guernsey. Most of the bulbs sold by florists and seedsmen 
 in the United States are imported directly from the Netherlands, 
 the annual importations amounting to nearly a million dollars in 
 value. Tulips and narcissuses can be propagated and grown success- 
 fully along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and in the region of the 
 Great Lakes, but owing to the cost of labor only comparatively lim- 
 ited areas have been planted. The largest areas devoted to the grow- 
 
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 Fig. 4. — Blooms of Emperor (a), Barrii Conspicuus (b), and Poeticus Ornatus (c), repre- 
 senting the three principal types of narcissus, with large, medium, and small crowns, 
 or trumpets. 
 
 ing of these bulbs on a commercial scale in this country are to be 
 found in this vicinity of Portsmouth and Richmond, Va., Hoxsie, 
 E. I., Newbern, N. C, Bellingham, Wash., Eureka, Cal., and Santa 
 Cruz, Cal. 
 
 In order to encourage the growing of Dutch bulbs in this country 
 on a commercial scale and to provide American-grown bulbs of 
 superior quality for congressional distribution, the Department of 
 Agriculture established a bulb-propagating garden near Bellingham, 
 Wash., where the conditions of soil and climate are similar to those 
 in the Netherlands. The experimental work carried on at Belling- 
 ham in connection with the propagation, cultivation, harvesting, 
 storing, and planting of these bulbs has been very satisfactory. 
 
 R. A. Oakley, 
 Agronomist in Charge. 
 
 July 31, 1919. 
 
 WASHINGTON : GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1919