In clay soil the bulbs should not be set quite so deep as in sandy soil, and the bulbs have better drainage about their roots if a handful of sand is placed under each bulb in planting.
Crocus bulbs may be planted in clumps anywhere about the grounds or borders by simply making a small hole about five inches deep, dropping the bulb in, and covering it. Lily of the valley grows best in partial shade in some unfrequented corner.
PLANTING OF BULBS INDOORS
Read again the instructions given under this heading in Form I work, regarding soil, planting, and care. The Chinese sacred lily and trumpet narcissus may be chosen for the pupils of this Form. The narcissus, also called daffodil, may be held back until early spring if kept in a cool, dark cellar, but the Chinese sacred lily, which is also a variety of narcissus, comes into bloom from four to six weeks after planting. It is usually grown in water in a bowl of suitable size. Place a few pieces of charcoal in the bottom of the bowl, set the bulb upon them, and pack coloured stones and shells around it as a support. Keep the bowl about two thirds full of water and set it in a warm, sunny place. It does not need to be set in the dark, as is the case with other bulbs. These may also be grown in soil in the same way as other varieties of narcissus. When blooming is over, the bulbs may be thrown away, as they cannot be used again.
GARDEN WORK
(See Autumn work for Form I.)
The pupils in Form II should be given more responsibility with reference to the care and management of their garden plots. If they have had a couple of years in gardening while in Form I, they will have gained sufficient knowledge as to the needs of plants and sufficient practice in garden craft to do a certain amount of work quite independently. The boys of Form II are able, with suitable garden tools, to do all the work needed in the management of their own plots and may even be allowed to do some of the harder work for the girls of their Form.
SEED SELECTION
Besides the usual work of weeding, cultivating, and harvesting of their crops, the pupils should undertake some work in seed selection. This work not only results in the improvement of the plants grown from year to year, but also helps to train the pupils in painstaking observation and the discerning of minute points of excellence. The ambition to produce, by careful selection and thorough cultivation, a grain or flower better than has been, is aroused, and, as the pupil's interest increases, his love for the art increases and his efforts meet with greater success.
The teacher should aim from the first to use only the best available seed even if the cost be greater. He should send for a number of catalogues and carefully choose those varieties of seeds that possess evident merit for the purpose intended. In the case of flowers, the pupils should be asked to decide what individual plants showed greatest excellence, and these should be marked, and the seed from them preserved for next season's planting. When the flower is in full bloom, a small string tag should be tied to the flower stem (string tags can be got from a local merchant). On this tag should be written in lead-pencil the name of the species, the shade, and date of flowering. These flowers should be left to ripen thoroughly, and then the seed picked and sealed up in small envelopes, which the pupils should make as part of their manual training work. The date on the tag should be transferred to the seed envelope.