269 
sions. The following day was spent in feasting. _Hence, 
perhaps, one of the floral meanings—‘“ Play.’’ The purple 
Hyacinth signifies sorrow, as it is said to bear on its petals 
Apollo’s lament for his friend. It is not too much to 
assert, that the Hyacinth is at once the most useful and 
popular bulb of the present day. It not only affords 
support to thousands, but pleasure and delight to millions 
of the human race. From its Eastern home it has spread 
West, North and South, until its beauty and fragrance 
enrich all civilized lands. Considering the matchless 
beauty, rare sweetness, amenability to treatment the 
most diverse, and its endurance of hardships the most 
severe, it is wonderful that the Hyacinth has not had its 
‘‘manias,’? as have Tulips and Chrysanthemums. ‘The 
Hyacinth is a native of the Levant, and was first intro- 
duced in 1596. 
FORCING. 
For forcing, the bulbs should be potted about the mid- 
dle of September in five or six inch pots in rich, light 
earth, and placed in a cold frame or under a wall, where 
- they can be covered with wocden shutters, or some 
similar contrivance, to keep off heavy rains. In-eithet 
case they should be covered a foot thick with hay or 
leaves; and being once well watered after potting, they 
may be left for a month to form their roots, when the 
most forward should be brought out and placed in a pit 
or cold greenhouse and allowed to come along gradually. 
At this point it is necessary to be very careful in regard 
to giving too much heat, or the- flowers will be failures. 
It should not exceed a temperature of 50° for the first 
three weeks, and may afterwards be increased to about 
60°. When the flower stems have risen to nearly their 
full height, and the lower flowers of the spike are begin- 
ning to expand, the plants should be removed to a lower 
