Chapter 7

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 be explained hereafter.

When large bulbs are dug, the old ones that were planted adhere so firmly that a good deal of force is required to separate them. For this reason it is not economy to clean them at once, so we store them in shallow crates, to the depth of two or three inches, and let them dry. They can then be filled in to the tops of the crates, which are four inches deep, and left until a convenient time for cleaning.

In two weeks after they are taken up, the older bulbs can be removed with a slight effort, but we reserve this work for stormy days. This is the way it is done: A number two sieve is placed upon a tight bushel basket, and filled with the bulbs to be cleaned. The old bulbs are taken off by hand and cast aside, carrying the roots with them, and the bulblets that still remain fall through the sieve into the basket below. The cleaned bulbs are dropped into another basket and then stored in crates to await the time for grading. The bulblets are put away in a cool, damp place. Bulbs three-fourths of an inch or more in diameter are cleaned one at a time, as described, but smaller ones are treated differently. There is much waste matter connected with them, roots, bits of tops, and soil, and the work of cleaning them is done out of doors on windy days in order that the trash and dust may be blown away. This explains why small stock should be thoroughly dried before it is cleaned. The bulbs are placed on a table or platform where the wind can have free play, and pulled and twisted by handfuls, until the most of them are separated from the rubbish. Those that still remain are picked out, and the trash is pushed off from the table. The bulbs are then put into a fine sieve and the remaining dust is sifted out. This process usually brings to light the last remnants of dry roots, leaves, and husks, and these are disposed of by pouring the bulbs from one bushel basket to another in the wind. At one time I had this finishing work done on more than half a million small bulbs with an old-fashioned fanning mill, and it was done to perfection.

Grading.

After the bulbs are cured and cleaned, the next step is grading, or separating them into classes according to size. This is absolutely necessary if the bulbs are to be sold, and almost as much so if they are to be planted. As to the sizes of the different grades, every grower seems to be a law unto himself. An effort has been made by the Society of American Florists to establish a uniform standard of division, and this will doubtless be accomplished in time. At present the most common arrangement of numbers and sizes seems to be about as follows:

First size (No. 1) 1-1/2 inches in diameter and up.

Second size (No. 2) 1-1/2 inches in diameter.

Third size (No. 3) 3/4-1 inch in diameter.

Fourth size (No. 4) 1/2-3/4 inch in diameter.

Fifth size (No. 5) all below 1/2 inch.

Numbers one, two, and three are considered regular blooming sizes, and are bought and sold by seedsmen. Number four bulbs will nearly all bloom, but they are seldom offered for sale, except to the trade. Number fives are not supposed to bloom at all, but a few of them will do so. There is a great difference in varieties in this respect, some blooming much smaller than others.

Bulbs may be approximately graded by screening them through sieves with meshes of proper sizes, from an inch and a half down to half an inch, and this is the most speedy way of doing the work. The necessary correcting can be done by hand when counting them out for sale or preparing them for planting.

Crates.

Some allusions to these have been made in the foregoing pages, and it may be well to preface the subject of keeping the bulbs over winter by describing the receptacles in which they are stored.

I have used crates of two sizes. The larger ones are three feet by four, and four inches deep, with bottoms of lath running lengthwise and placed a quarter of an inch apart. Strips of 1x2-inch stuff are nailed across the corners, on both top and bottom, exactly opposite each other, so that they will come together and keep the crates apart for ventilation when piled one above another. The upper strips also serve as handles by which to lift the crates. They should be far enough from the corners so that bulbs can run out between when emptying the crates, and yet not so far as to make it difficult to take bulbs out from under them with a shovel. The ends of these corner pieces should be sawed beveling, so as not to project and be in the way. There is also a 2x2-inch strip nailed across the middle of the crate on the under side, to support the lath.

The smaller crates are half the size of the others, two feet by three, and four inches deep. The bottoms are tight, and three-eighths of an inch thick. The corner pieces are two inches wide and one inch thick. No strips are needed across the middle underneath.

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.