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When their flowers begin to fliew themfelves, you 

 fhould mark all fuch as appear to have good proper- 

 ties, by thrufting a fmall ftick dov;n by each root *, 

 which roots, at the time for taking them up, fhould 

 be felecled from the reft, and planted by themfelves ; 

 though I would by no means advife the rejefting any 

 of the other roots, until they have blown two years, 

 before which you cannot be afcertained of their va- 

 lue. When the green leaves of thefe plants begin to 

 decay, their roots muft be taken up, and a bed of light 

 earth, in a fhady fituation, fhould be raifed into a ridge ; 

 the better to fliooc off the moifture, the roots fl^ould 

 be laid into the earth again in an horizontal pofition, 

 leaving the green leaves hanging out of the ground 

 from the roots, whereby the great moifture contained 

 in their .very fucculent leaves and flower-ftalks may 

 be exhaled, and prevented from returning to the 

 roots, \yhich, when fufFcred fo to do, is very of- 

 ten the' caufe of their rotting after they are out oi 

 the ground. In this ridge the roots fliould remain 

 until the leaves are quite dried off, when they muft 

 be taken up, and after being cleared of all manner of 

 filth, which would be hurtful to them, they muft be 

 laid up in boxes, where they may be preferved dry 

 until September, which is the proper feafon for plant- 

 ing them again ; the method of doing this Ihall be 

 hereafter mentioned, when we treat of the manage- 

 ment of old roots. , ' . 

 I ftiall now proceed to the culture of fuch Hyacinths 

 as have either been obtained from Holland, or are of 

 our own produfl from the feeds of fuch flowers 

 ■ as were very beautiful, and worthy to be pre- 

 fevcd in colleftions of good flowers : and it hath 

 been the want of flcill in the management of thefe 

 noble flowers, which has ocafioned the ill fuccefs 

 moft people have had with them In England, where- 

 by they have been negleft^d, fuppoiing their roots 

 to degenerate after they have flowered in England, 

 which IS a great miftake; for >vere the 'roots 

 managed' with the fame art as hath been pra£tifed in 

 Holland, laft fullyicbhvincc^ they would thriy^ne^r 

 ii well in England as there,' 'or elfewhcrej as I have 

 experienced ; for, from fome hundreds or roots which 

 , IhaveVeceivecTT^^^ at two or three dif- 

 ferent' times/IhayeH^d ; "a y^ry great increafe of 

 ; their rop^!;s, ^lii<jh: were asjafge, and produced a^^ma- 

 ny flowers upon their ftems, as the fame forts generally 

 do jn Holland, 



The foil in which thefe flowers fucceed beft, is a 

 lightj fandy, frcJh, rich earth, which may be compofed 

 ' after the following manner : take half frefli earth 

 from a common, or pafture land, which is chiefly of 

 * a fandy loam •, this fhould be off the furface, and not 

 ; tajcen above eight or nine inches deep at mpft -, and if 

 :you take the turf, or green fward with it, it will ftill be 

 ^'better,' provided you have time to let it rot before it 

 '^is'ufed i to this' you fhould add a fourtli pai-t of fea- 

 land, and 



: Qther fourth part of rotten cbw dung ; 



mix thc/e well together, and cafl it into a heap, where 



it. may renaain until you ufe it, obferving to turn it 



^oyer once m three weeks or a month, that it may 



-be welrWxedr'\ If this 'coiiipofl is made ^ f^ years 



"^beTofq It IS ufed, it will be much the better; l^ut if 



'you are obliged to. ufc it fooner, then it fhould be 



oftener turned, that the parts may the better unite. ' 



;Thrs']roil fhoiild be laid two feet deep on' the beds 



: S^hich arp;'de%e4, fpr^. Hyacimh^^^ if ybu 



ilay a little rotten cow dung, or tanners bark, at the 



.pottorri, which may be ^vlthIn reach of the fibres, but 



■fhould by no means touch the bulb, it will be better. 



'If the foil is very" wet where thefe beds are made, you 



/Ihould raife them ten or tv/elve inches above the 



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-furface of the ground : but if it be dry, they need 

 ■ not be raned above tnree or tour inches. .' ' "■' 



ii- -• J 



.The"manne'r of preparing the beds is as follows: 

 Firft, take all the former old earth out of the bed to 

 the deptjx jQu intend, which fhould be near three feet j 

 then fpread fome rotten neats dung, or tan, in the 

 bottom, about fix inches thick, laying it very le- 

 vel- iipon 'this you fliduld lay the above-mentioned 





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fcore out the diftances for the roots, which fliould 

 be eight inches fquare, in ftrait rows each way ; af- 

 ter which, place your roots exactly in the fquares 

 obferving to fet the bottom part downward ; then 

 cover the roots fix inches deep with the fame prepared 

 earth, being very careful in doing this not to difplace 

 any of the roots -, and if the tops of thefe beds arc 

 made a little rounding, to ftioot off' the wet, it will be 

 of fervicein moift ground, provided the middle of the 

 beds are not made too high, which is a fault the other 

 way. 



The beft feafon for planting thefe roots is the middle 

 or latter end of September, according to the earlinefs 

 or latenefs of the feafon^ or the weather when it hap- 

 pens ; but I would advife you never to plant them 

 when the ground is extreme dry, unlefs there be a pro- 

 fpeft of fome rain foon after -, for if the weather fhould 

 continue dry for a confiderable time after, the roots will 

 receive a mouldinefs, which will certainly deftroy them. 

 The beds will require no farther care until the froft 

 comes on very fevere, at which time they fhould 

 have fome rotten tan fpread over them, about four 

 inches thick ; and if the alleys on each fide of the 

 bed are filled up, either with rotten taa, dung, or 

 fandj it will prevent the froft from penetrating the 

 round on each fide to the roots, and fecure thcni 

 rom being deftroy ed ^ but when the winters prove 

 very fevere, it will alfo be proper to have fome Peas- 

 haulm, Straw, or fuch like covering laid over them, 

 which will keep out the froft better than mats ■, and 

 lying hollow, will admit the air to the furface of the 

 ground, and alfo permit the exhalations to pafs off, 

 whereby the earth will remain dry, and prevent the 

 roots from rotting, which has often happened when 



< 1 . ^ < 



the beds have been too clofe covered. But you muft 

 obferve to take off this light covering whenever t^e 

 weather is ipild. and only let it continue on in very 

 hard frofts ; for where the beds are covered with 

 tan or lea-coal afhes, no common froft can penetrate 

 gn, fo the coverings are ufelefs, except in very 



fevere" froft j for a fmall froft' cannot injure the roots 

 before the green leaves^ appear abpye^ground, which 

 is fcldom before the beginning of February, af which 

 time the beds miift be archea over with hoops, that 

 they may be. covered either with mats, canvas, or 

 fome other lighit covering, to prevent the froft from 

 injuring the buds as they arife above ground; but 

 thefe coverings muft be conftantly taken off eve^ry 

 day when the^ weather is mild, otherwife the fldwer- 

 ftems will be drawn up to a great height, and become 

 very weak, and the foot-ftalks of the flowers will be 

 long and fiender, and fo rendered incapable of fup- 



^^B 



porting the bells ; which is a great difadvantage to 

 the flpwers, for one. of their sreateft beauties confifls 

 in the regular difgpfition of their bells. When thgfe 

 hoops are fixed over the beds, the rotten tan fhould 

 be moft of it taken off them ; in doing of wnich, 

 gre^tcare fhould be taken not to bruife or injure the 

 kaj^es^of thej-jyacinths, which by that time-vvilLbe 

 brealcing out of the o;round with the flower-flem, 



-~m ■ 1 ' 1 /• 



1- 



therefore the tan^ fhould be remoyed by the handj; 

 br if any inftrument is made ufe of in the doing of 

 it, there niuft be great caution how it is perfcrm^d,.'^ 

 When the ftems of the flowers are^adyanced ip their 



height before. the. flpwers, ^rel^exp^de^ yo)l-%V^? 

 place afhortftick dpwnby eachjoot,_tp which, with 

 ^'' wire formed into aliioop, the ftem oftheflQW?rs 



1 



t 



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 ■ 



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earth two feet thick^ levelling it very even j then ' feafon. 



3 



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^ — 



fhoiild, be faftenecf; to fupport them from falling;. 



otherwife, when the bells are fully expanded, their 

 weiffht will incline them to the eround, efpecially u 

 they are not fcreened from the wind and ram. 

 During their feafon ojf flowering they fhould be co- 

 vered in the heat of the day from the fun,, as alio 

 from all h^^avy. r^i^A; but they fhould^ be permitted 

 to receive all erentle fhowers, as alfo the mornihg.ana 

 evening fun ; but if the nights are frofty, they. mult 

 be conftantly defended therefrom. With this manage- 

 ment you may,9ontinue your Hyacinthsin beauty at 

 leaft, oi>e whole month, ^nd.fometimes more, accord- 

 ing to their flrength, or the f^vourablenels'of the 



' "VVl^en 



