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THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



turfy loam arid plenty of good ma- 

 nure. Into this bed all the bulbs are 

 planted out from the pots, without 

 breaking the balls or injuring a fibre, 

 and they are put as close as possible, 

 so that when planted it looks like a 

 bed of leeks. One good soaking of 

 water, and there is an end of that 

 business. 



When you get into " full swing " 

 in this sort of practice, you will want 

 three beds, and the best way is to 

 have them side by side, four feet 

 wide, and twelve-inch alleys between. 

 No. 1 bed is used, as just described, 

 to receive hyacinths just done flower- 

 ing. There they remain till some 

 time in July or beginning of August; 

 they are then taken up and cleaned, 

 and the offsets removed ; the large 

 bulbs are then put away for a month 

 in a dry cool place, and all the offsets 

 are planted at once in bed No. 2, and 

 they need be only two or three inches 

 apart, in rows just sufficiently sepa- 

 rated as to allow room to work a 

 small hoe between them. Have the 

 bed in a fine, sweet, rich condition, 

 and dibble them in three inches deep ; 

 there let them remain to grow as they 

 please, but keep them free from 

 weeds, and give water in plenty all 

 May and June if the season happens 

 to be dry. About the middle of 

 October, and not earlier, plant all the 

 bulbs that were set aside at the plant- 

 ing of the offsets. It is for these that 

 No. 3 is prepared. The bed must be 

 rich, and deep, and sandy, and in a 

 mellow condition. Plant the bulbs 

 in rows six inches apart, and four 

 inches apart in the row ; they must 

 be five or six inches deep. I find 

 that the bard frosts that come occa- 

 sionally after bright weather in March 

 do much mischief to the rising foliage 

 unless there is some protection. A 

 sprinkling of light dry hay or Btraw 

 generally answers the purpose, and 

 when the weather changes this is 

 easily removed. 



You will soon see that all the 

 good, hard, ripe bulbs that were in 

 pots the year before are throwing up 

 spikes of bloom, You must pinch 

 out every spike as soon as you can 

 get hold of it, and not allow one of 

 them to ilower. But here we may 



alter the tactics if desirable. It may 

 happen that you prefer to keep them 

 all tallied from first to last, and if so, 

 I commend you for it. If you keep 

 them tallied, let the spikes rise so 

 high that you can nip out all but one 

 or two buds ; let these remain, and as 

 they open see by the colours of the 

 flowers that your names are right. 

 At the end of the season these bulbs 

 will be large and sound— that is, if 

 they have had enough water while 

 growing, and enough sun when going 

 to rest. You may in the October 

 following plant them in beds and 

 borders, going through the same 

 routine with the offsets as before. It 

 makes an immense difference to 

 hyacinth bulbs to let them grow 

 freely for one season without allow- 

 ing them to flower ; and it makes an 

 immense difference also to get them 

 well ripened by sun-heat without 

 exposing the bulbs to sunshine. 

 Therefore, if bulbs are planted out of 

 pots into beds to finish their season, 

 always plant them three or four inches 

 deep, so as to cover the bulb with 

 soil. The sole object of only half 

 imbedding them in pots is to afford 

 the roots as much depth as possible. 

 It is certainly not good for the bulbs 

 at any time to be exposed to the 

 atmosphere. 



One word about hyacinths flowered 

 in glasses, rustic robins, and other 

 such receptacles. I can make as good 

 bulbs of these for after-use as those 

 grown in pots, but by another method. 

 I never allow them to open their last 

 few buds, but as soon as they cease to 

 be really beautiful I nip out the spike, 

 leaving a few inches of the stem, so 

 as not to bleed it near the crown, and 

 then carefully spread out the roots 

 on a bed of quite rotten dung in a 

 frame. I cover them with any light 

 gritty soil, water freely, and keep 

 them rather close and frequently 

 sprinkled till the leaves begin to get 

 yellow, and then take off the light 

 and leave them to their fate. They 

 always ripen well, and are afterwards 

 dealt with in precisely the Bame way 

 as those flowered in pots. 



For a last word, remember that 

 bulbs should never be bruised or left 

 about in odd places ; and above all 



