298 THE TLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



roots that would not nourish you a single hour if you and your 

 tulips were together cast upon a desert island. But to have all their 

 splendour at a trifling cost, prepare a foiir-feet bed, or even a narrow 

 border — perhaps a border with some shrubs in the rear is the proper 

 place for this business. Sandy loam, well manured, is all you want. 

 In this plant your cheap mixtures, six inches apart, six inches deep, 

 and leave them aloue four years. Then take them up, separate, 

 replant, give away the surplus, and go on as before. Tou will be a 

 tulip-grower minus the madness : who can object to tliat ? 



Daffodils. — All the varieties of Polyanthus Narciss make beauti- 

 ful subjects for pot culture. They require the same soil and treat- 

 ment as hyacinths, and the number of bulbs put in a pot must be 

 regulated by their size. A fiue bulb of Grand Monarque will require 

 a six-inch pot. The following are the most distinct and noble — 

 Bazelman Major, Gloriosa, Grand Monarque, Grand Prince, Soleil 

 d'Or, States General, Double Boman, and Paper White. For open 

 borders the following are beautiful — Incomparable, Orange Phcenix, 

 White Butch, Van Sion, Commo7i Daffodil. The best way to deal 

 with them is to planb them in clumps of half-a-dozen to a dozen 

 bulbs in shady borders, and not to disturb them for the next seven 

 years at least. The gardeners are so fond of digging borders, how- 

 ever, that you may think yourself fortunate if they are not all 

 chopped into mincemeat within a year of being planted. It would 

 do incalculable good if some lover of flowers would chop one of these 

 border-diggers into mincemeat, as a caution to the rest! 



The Eoman Hyacinth is a small white bulb, which produces 

 small spikes of snow-white flowers, or small spikes of blue flowers. 

 They are grown in vast quantities for Covent Garden Market, and 

 may always be found in wedding bouquets during winter and spring. 

 As trade articles they are scarce, the market growers usually mono- 

 polize the supplies. Pot them as soon as they can be obtained, 

 plunge them with two inches of cocoa-nut fibre over their crowns, 

 and, as soon as the green spikes peep through the material, take 

 them out and put them in frames and greenhouses. If a very early 

 bloom is wanted, pot in August, and, when well-rooted, put them 

 in gentle heat, and they will bloom in ISTovember. As a border 

 bulb, Eomau hyacinths are most useful, and the way to treat them 

 is to plant four inches deep, and leave them undisturbed for several 

 years. 



Ceocijses sufier much by being kept out of the ground till late 

 in the season, and with being lifted before the leaves have died down; 

 Plant them three inches deep in clumps or lines, and leave them 

 untouched three years, then divide, manure the ground, and plant 

 again. Nothing to surpass common white, yellow, and blue for the 

 open ground, but the named varieties should be used for pots. 

 Put five bulbs in a five or six -inch pot, using rich sandy soil, and 

 treat the same as advised for hyacinths. If no room for them in 

 the greenhouse, they can be flowered well in a frame. The following 

 are splendid varieties. La Majesteuse, Sir Walter Scott, David Biz zio, 

 Mont Blanc, Cloth of Gold, Ne Plus Ultra, and Queen Victoria. Any 

 of these may be had in bulbs as large as walnuts — and the larger the 



