ep in crates, and dried in the shade,
after which the depth may be doubled for storage until cleaning time.
The bulblets are poured into a box or barrel.

In digging larger bulbs, they are simply loosened up with the fork,
lifted out by the tops, which are clipped off close to the bulbs, and
are dropped into a coarse sieve, number two, placed over a bushel
basket. Through this the earth and most of the bulblets are sifted into
the basket. The bulbs are then spread in shallow crates to dry. The
crates should be placed where the ventilation is good, and no rain can
reach them. The bulblets are separated from the earth with a fine sieve,
and put into a box or barrel.

By way of explanation I will say just here that the bulblets grown on
small stock are easily separated from the bulbs, as the original bulbs
were small when planted and shrink away to almost nothing, thus leaving
the bulblets free to fall. With large stock the case is different. The
original bulbs were large when planted, and although they wither and die
as the new bulbs grow and mature, they still retain a considerable
portion of their size. The new bulbs are formed close above the old
ones, and the bulblets appear around the line of contact, sometimes
between the two, so that they do not all become detached at the time of
digging. Those that still adhere are removed in the process of cleaning.

It is advisable to dry bulbs of all sizes as soon as practical after
digging. They look much brighter and more attractive when thus treated
than when left lying in contact with the damp soil, for a considerable
time, as this gives them a dull, discolored appearance. If grown for
market, those that shine like satin are much more salable, and even for
planting it is much more pleasing to have them bright than tarnished.
Sometimes, when short of crates, or in a great hurry, we have piled up
small bulbs with their accompanying soil in the field and left them to
be cared for at a more convenient time. They kept all right and could
have been kept until spring with sufficient covering, but they lost
their luster and became dingy and unattractive.

Bulblets should not be dried. The reason for this will be given
elsewhere.

CHAPTER VII.

Cleaning and Grading.

When bulbs are taken up, it is necessary that they should be dried to
some extent before the work of cleaning begins,--the large ones
partially at least, and the small ones wholly, for reasons which will