HYACINTHUS. 
251 
HYACINTHUS. 
room they take up in the border 
If it is wished to preserve the roots 
im a vigorous state, they ought to 
hagipken up after flowering when 
the leaves have faded, and kept in 
a dry airy shed, with the neck of the 
bulb turned down ; and then plant- 
ed in a properly-prepared bed in 
autumn, where, after remaining two 
years, they will have recovered their 
vigour, and be fit to plant again in 
the border. Planting Hyacinths in 
miscellaneous borders is the most 
convenient mode for amateurs, and 
in general it produces the most 
agreeable effect in a private garden ; 
for beds of Hyacinths have more | 
in such a manner as to throw off 
the rain. Thus treated, the plants 
will bloom with great vigour; and 
to have the colours in the greater 
perfection, the bed ought to be cov- 
ered in the flowering season with a 
tent or awning. But for amateurs, 
the most convenient mode is to 
form the bed of such a size as to be 
| contained either in a common cu- 
|cumber-frame with glass sashes, 
which may be put on during heavy 
rains, and also during sunshine; 
tilting them at both ends to admit 
a free circulation of air, and cover- 
ing the glass with mats to exclude 
‘the sun. Care must be taken to 
the appearance of being cultivated | remove the glasses entirely during 
for sale by a florist, though it must | cloudy weather, in order not to draw 
be confessed that strong flowers are up the plants; and, for the same 
produced in this way, and the effect, 
considered by itself, is far more 
splendid. 
Beds of Hyacinths—The most | 
convenient width is five feet; and 
the length may be greater or less, 
at pleasure. Five feet in width 
will admit of four rows for the four 
colours of red, white, blue, and yel- 
low ; which should be six inches 
apart between the rows, and the 
bulbs may be placed at the same 
distance from each other in the row. 
‘The arrangement of “he colours 
may be according to fancy, but the 
common mode is never to have two 
of a colour together. To prepare 
the bed, dig out the scil to the depth 
of three feet, and fill it up to one 
foot above the surface with very 
sandy loam mixed with leaf-mould, 
cow-cung, or hotbed dung, thorough. 
ly rotten. This may be done in 
September; and in October six 
inches of the soil may be removed, 
and the bulbs planted; after which 
the soil must be replaced. To pro- 
tect the bulbs from too much wet 
during the winter, the surface of the 
bed should be gently sloped to each 
side ; and during rainy weather it 
may be covered with reeds or thatch, 
reason, to take them off every night 
| when the weather is dry. A com- 
men cucumber-frame, of twelve 
feet long and four feet wide, will 
contain a yery handsome collection 
|of Hyacinths; which may thus be 
| grown to the highest degree of per- 
fection, and protected from every 
|exterior injury. As soon as the 
| plants have done flowering, the 
frame and glasses may be removed ; 
and when the leaves have become 
yellowish, the bulbs may be taken 
| up, and each kind kept by itself, and 
placed in an airy situation in the 
shade till they are quite dry. After 
this they shceuld be cleansed from 
any soil that may stick to them, 
and the fibreus roots, which will 
have withered up, should be rubbed 
off. The bulbs should then be laid 
on a shelf of lattice work, with the 
neck of the bulb downwards, or 
placed in shallow wicker baskets, 
and hung up in an airy shed or 
room till wanted for use. If decay 
or canker make their appearance, 
the parts injured, if small, should 
be cut out and the bulb laid aside to 
dry ; but if the parts injured extend 
far, the bulb should be thrown away 
at once; as the disease is infectious, 
