rneath.

The smaller crates are preferable for several reasons. First, they can
be handled by one man while the larger ones, when filled, require two.
Second, the tight bottoms prevent any mixing of varieties, which may
happen in using the larger crates by the bulblets dropping through from
one to another. Third, the small crates can be easily and entirely
emptied, while the large ones retain bulblets or very small bulbs in the
spaces between the lath, and when varieties are to be kept separate
these must be carefully picked out. In storing mixed bulbs, or a large
quantity of one variety, the last two objections do not hold, but crates
containing kinds that should be kept pure cannot safely be placed one
above another when the bottoms are slatted. It may be asked why the
large crates are not made with tight bottoms. They have a capacity of
two bushels each, or more, and when filled with damp bulbs fresh from
the ground, they must have bottom ventilation in order to dry their
contents. The small ones, holding only half as much, do not need the
draft from below.

CHAPTER VIII.

Winter Storage.

An excellent way to keep blooming bulbs through the winter is to pack
them in crates, and pile these in a cellar without artificial heat,
where the mercury ranges from thirty-five to forty degrees in cold
weather.

Small bulbs may be kept in the same way, but they should not be more
than two or three inches deep in the crates. They settle into a more
solid mass than large bulbs, and if too deep they are liable to start
into growth. This should be carefully guarded against.

Small quantities of bulbs may be stored in half-bushel baskets, from two
to four inches deep, according to size, and hung up in the cellar.

Bulblets may be packed in boxes or barrels without regard to depth. They
do not need to be cured in the fall, like bulbs, as a little drying
hardens the shells in which they are enclosed to such an extent that
many of the tiny shoots are unable to break through when the growing
season comes. They should be packed away when taken off from the bulbs
at digging or cleaning time, and a cool, damp place for keeping them is
best. Some of them will sprout in storage, which, of course, is not to
be desired, but it is better to lose the few that will grow too soon by
dampness than the many that will be kept from growing at all by drying.
The ideal place for storing bulblets is a root cellar, or underground
room not