'il28 



THE HYACINTH AND NARCISSUS. 



the vessel be large enough to hold half a 

 dozen or a dozen things, the centre may be 

 a Narcissus, round this six Hyacinths, round 

 the Hyacinths a row of early Van Thol 

 Tulips, and outside of all a row of Cro- 

 cuses, of the three different colours ; or, as 

 the Tulips are inclined to yellow, perhaps 

 blue and white alternately will do better. 

 The moss is to be wetted well, and fine 

 green picked moss should be piled up all 

 over the bulbs, which may be completely 

 hidden by it. This might be done in a 

 large punch or salad bowl, or round dish, 

 or glass milk pan. Smaller vessels may be 

 used with single bulbs, or with two or 

 three or more. The moss in which they 

 are placed, should be pressed down, and 

 need not be of the finest colour ; but that 

 put at top, forming a rounding surface, and 

 covering the bulbs, ought to be of the best 

 colour, and the handsomest that could be 

 picked ; for the moss is of itself a pretty 

 object, even before the bulbs throw up their 

 green foliage. Those who prefer to see 

 the bulbs, may merely put some of the best 

 moss between them, and not enough to 

 cover them. 



In Pots. — It is the practice to pot bulbs 

 close to or above the surface, to place them 

 all under a heap of ashes, or sawdust, or 

 sand, to be taken out as they are wanted 

 for forcing. It is far better to obtain the 

 pots made on purpose, twice the height of 

 an ordinary pot, and to put the bulb on the 

 soil with the pot only half-filled ; then fill 

 the pot so that a good three or four inches 

 of compost is above the bulb : these may 

 be plunged in the open ground, and cover- 

 ed with litter. The plant begins growing 

 directly ; and Avhen required for forcing, 

 from time to time, they only want to be 

 placed in heat a little earlier, to make al- 

 lowance for the time they are coming 

 through the earth ; and all the later ones, 

 instead of having three or four inches of 

 yellow foliage, which has been drawn up 

 through the ashes or sawdust, or other me- 

 dium in which they have been buried, will 

 be found hardly through the compost, or, if 

 through, by no means drawn up. This ap- 

 plies to all the hardy bulbs, that are capa- 

 ble of being grown in pots. The soil 

 should be the same as has been recommend- 



ed for beds ; and the only care required is 

 that of supplying water, so that the soil 

 should never be dry ; but as there is real 

 nourishment in the soil, it must not be sa- 

 turated with water always ; on the contrary, 

 the treatment should be much the same as 

 other potted plants, such as Geraniums, 

 which ought to be kept moist, but never 

 wet. The pots should always be kept in a 

 strong light, and until the flowers show co- 

 lour, may have as much sun as possible, and 

 air in mild weather, unless they are in 

 forcing heat, which, of course, renders this 

 improper. For forcing, the bulbs may be 

 potted as early as September, and may be 

 placed in heat at once ; and from that time, 

 till the end of December, they may be pot- 

 ted with pretty nearly as good success ; but 

 some bulbs are weakened by keeping out 

 till that time, and others, even of the same 

 varieties, may be picked out that stand very 

 well. We prefer, on every account, pot- 

 ting early, and plunging the pots to their 

 rims in the ordinary ground, merely cover- 

 ing with litter, to keep off the frost in case 

 of a severe one. From this situation, they 

 can be taken to force, as they are likely to 

 be wanted ; and they make far more hand- 

 some plants when so treated, than they do 

 when buried in any thing ; and the two or 

 three inches growth is above instead of un- 

 der the surface. 



It onl}^ remains for us to name a few of 

 the best and cheapest for the different pur- 

 poses, always premising that every kind 

 will grow well in pots, but that some do 

 better than others in glasses. 



Hyacinths. — For Glasses or pots — early : 

 Waterloo, d. red ; Groot Voorst, d. pale 

 flesh colour ; Due de Normandy, d. blue; 

 Alamode, d. blue ; Passe Tout, d. blue ; 

 Alamode, d. white; Nannette, d. white; 

 Grand Vainqueur, s. white ; Paix d'Amiens, 

 s. pink ; L'Amie de Coeur, s. purple. Later: 

 Panorama, d. red; Mignon de Dryf hout, d, 

 blue ; Lord Wellington, d. blue ; Kroon 

 Von Indien, d. dark blue : Pasquin, d. light 

 blue ; Anna Maria, d. white ; Virgo, d. 

 white, violet eye ; Orondates, s. light blue ; 

 La Balaine, s. flesh colour. 



For pots only — early : Charlotte Mari- 

 anne, d. red ; Madame Zoutman, d. rose ; 

 Aimable Rosetta, d. flesh colour; Vulcan, 



