Suppose you have a quarter to spend.  You can make all kinds of interesting combinations.  Three daffodils for ten cents, a hyacinth for ten, and a tulip for five, give you a chance to experiment.

A word more about narcissus.  This is a large family, One gets confused sometimes with the names daffodil, jonquil and paper white narcissus.  All these are of the family narcissus.  The daffodils are the bulbs with large single or double cups.  The jonquil has a cluster of small blossoms of from three to six single flowers.  The paper white narcissus has four to twelve single blossoms to the flower head.

Ethel and Dee had good lawns at home which their mothers were not willing to have spaded up, but they gave consent to the girls putting crocus bulbs here and there over the lawns.  These bulbs should be planted about an inch deep and three inches apart in the group.  These were dotted about in clusters of six.  The dibble is a good instrument to use in dotting bulbs around the turf.  Crocuses are good for indoor planting as well.  They may be planted in flats or in indoor boxes.  Remember crocuses are of practically no use for cut-flower purposes.

The school tulip bed was made just as Philip’s round bed was made.  The time to plant depends on the weather.  It is always well to get all outdoor planting done before the time of frost.  Why?  Because you wish to get the bulbs in while the earth is still warm.  Bulbs lie in the ground all winter slowly putting out roots, slowly starting to push up toward the light above.  For good root forming they need this long time of slow growth.  Get the outdoor bulbs in the ground during September.

Before this the ground may be prepared.  In all the beds dig down about two feet.  Work over the soil well.  Make it fine and free from lumps and stones.  Ordinary garden soil will be right for these beds.  Put no fertilizer in.  If your ground is clayey, mix sand with it.  Use one-quarter sand in a mixture of this sort.  This makes a lighter soil.  Clay soil is what we call a heavy soil.  Bulbs require light soils.

Now comes planting.  Different kinds of bulbs require different depths of soil.  Place the tulip bulbs four inches deep, and six inches apart.

Hyacinths were planted by Elizabeth in a strip beside the house.  Jack also planted daffodils in a corner sheltered by the house foundation and an old high fence.  The daffodils were planted exactly as the tulips, but the hyacinths were planted six inches deep, instead of four.

In buying bulbs for outdoor planting ask for bedding bulbs, while for indoor work buy forcing varieties.

One bright day in October the girls met at Katharine’s house to pot their bulbs for winter.  Some had made wooden boxes or flats during the winter; others had bought low pots; while still others had the ordinary high pot.

In potting bulbs or any other plant two things are to be kept in mind—­first, the soil, and second, the drainage.  The soil may be any good garden soil.  To a given quantity one may add one-fourth rotted manure and one-fourth sand.  This last helps lighten the material, allowing more air to get at the entire mass and making good drainage easier.  Mix all this together.  If one lacks the well-rotted manure and sand, any good garden soil may be used.  Sift the soil until it is perfectly fine.