HYACINIHUS. 
252 
HEYACINTHUS. 
and will communicate itself to 
healthy bulbs lying near the diseased 
ones. Hyacinth bulbs are generally 
fit for putting in baskets in the course 
of the month of July, and the bed 
being partially renewed with fresh 
soil, they may be planted again in 
September or October. A _ third 
part of the soil being taken away, 
and replaced by fresh soil every 
year, the bed may continue to be 
used for an unlimited period. Young 
bul) or offsets will be produced 
move or less every season, and these 
may be taken off when the bulbs 
are raised, laid by themselves, and 
planted in a nursery-bed for a year ; 
when they will have grown suifi- 
ciently large to be fit for planting 
in the flowering-bed. Single-flow- 
ered Hyacinths, whether in mixed 
borders or in beds, will generally 
have a tendency to produce seeds; 
but as these weaken the bulbs, the 
flower-stalks should be cut off as 
soon as the flowers have faded, or 
the capsules ought to be stripped 
off the flower-stalk with the hand 
as soon as they appear; unless, in- 
deed, it is wished to raise new sorts, 
—in which case the seeds may be 
allowed to ripen, and they should 
be sown under glass as soon as they | 
are ripe. They will come up the 
following spring, and if carefully 
transplanted and properly treated, 
will produce flowers in from three 
to five years. 
Flowering Hyacinths in glasses 
-of water is a very simple operation, 
and may be effected by filling the 
glass with water up to the neck; 
and then placing the bulb in the 
cup-shaped part of the glass in- 
tended to receive it, and renewing 
the water from time to time when 
it begins to get muddy. When the 
water is changed the bulb should 
not be taken out, unless the roots 
are short and few, but the hand 
should be put over the top of the 
glass so as to retain the bulb in its 
-_ 
piace, and the water carefully and 
slowly poured off. ‘This is done to 
prevent any injury being done to 
the long roots, as they are wery 
brittle and easily broken, and the 
plant is seriously injured by their 
being in an imperfect state. When 
one of the long roots is broken, it 
should be cut off with a sharp knife 
close to the bulb. 
When Hyacinths are to be grown 
in water-glasses, some persons think 
it advisable first to plant the bulbs 
in soil, and when they have made 
roots of an inch or more in length, 
to take them up, and wash the roots 
before putting them in glasses; but 
planting in a flowerpot generally 
makes the roots spread, instead of 
descending perpendicularly; and 
thus, they can scarcely be put into 
the glass without breaking. To 
avoid this danger the bulbs should 
be planted in loose sandy soil, and a 
very deep pot. When the bulbs are 
put into the water, without pre- 
viously planting them in the ground, 
the glasses may be kept in the dark, 
till the roots begin to grow; but as 
soon as this is the case, the glasses 
'should be placed in a warm room 
near the light, when the plants will 
grow rapidly. Should the flower- 
stems appear weak, they may be 
supported by a slender prop fixed 
in a disk of wood, on which the 
| glass may be placed as its base; or 
by any other elegant or convenient 
means. In choosimg Hyacinths 
for water-glasses, the red and blue 
flowers are preferable to those which 
are white or yellow ; the latter two 
having a fragrance too powerful 
for rooms, and, besides, they gene- 
rally flower weaker in glass than 
the others. In the windows of seed- 
shops we sometimes see Hyacinths 
or Narcissi with their flowers in- 
verted in a glass of water, ap- 
pearing as if they had grown in 
that position. 'They are, however, 
grown in the usual manner, with 
