TUE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDExY GUIDE. 263 



be made to train then down to a flat surface, for shapely buslies are 

 in every way the most suitable ; they have a more natural appaar- 

 ance, and can be intermixed with the ornamenbal-leaved plants to 

 far greater advanta::e. 



HYACIN'THS YOU DECOEATIOI^S. 



BY aOBEBT OTJBEIDGE, 

 Church Walk Nursery, Stoke Newington, N. 



|Y a judicious system of culture, Hyacinths may be had 

 in splendid condition from Ciiristmas until the end of 

 March ; and during their season they are, it may be 

 safely said, quite unsurpassed. They can be employed 

 in the decoration of the conservatory in the pots in 

 wMch they are grown; or they can, if required, be turned out of 

 the pots and put singly in glasses, or be paci^ed several together in 

 fancy baskets, chiaa bowls, and other receptacles. The necessary 

 disturbance at the root affects them so little, that they retain their 

 freshness and beauty for nearly as long a time as they would do if 

 left undisturbed ia the pots. Few plants will submit to this treat- 

 ment without suffering; and certainly nothing will present a brighter 

 appearance, or diffuse a more grateful perfume during the first three 

 months of the year, tiiau a well-selected assortment of hyacinths. 

 I know these flowers are well appreciated, but I have considered it 

 necessary to mention these facts to show that they deserve to be 

 grown more extensively than has hitherto been the case. 



The great question of expense has of necessity to be considered 

 by amateurs of limited means, in making up their bulb orders ; 

 and I hope to be able to show how a far better display of bloom may 

 be produced for a given outlay than is usually the case. In looking 

 through the annual bulb catalogues, amateurs are sorely tempted to 

 purchase varieties which command comparatively high prices, under 

 the impression that they are so much better than otiiers of a similar 

 colour at a cheaper rate. Very often they buy varieties at eighteen 

 shillings a dozen, which are no better — and, in some instances, not 

 so good — than those which may be purchased for one-third of the 

 price ; and they have one dozen, instead of three. The prices of 

 hyacinths are not always an indication of their value from a deco- 

 rative point of view, as I shall be able to explain in a very few 

 words. Some varieties are more difficult to propagate than others ; 

 some are more recently introduced, and owiag to the comparative 

 scarcity of the bulbs in both cases, they command higher prices. 

 Several of the new hyacinths are very fiue, but unless for exhibition 

 purposes, they can be dispensed with. The amateur, unless he has 

 plenty of money to spare, should buy several bulbs of a few first-rate 

 cheap sorts, instead of one bulb ea^h of a large number of varieties. 

 He should, in fact, act on the same principle as I do in purchasing 

 my bulbs for growing for market; but instead of buying them by 



September, 



