PSR ee 
yi iedd og 
; 
of 
273 
ROMAN HYACINTHS. 
The white Roman Hyacinth is one of the most useful 
of all flowers we have for the Christmas holidays, and for 
this purpose it is grown extensively by florists all over 
the Union. These bulbs are chiefly grown in France and 
imported by American dealers by the hundred thousand. 
They are smaller than the Dutch bulbs, but always pro- 
duce from three to five spikes of bloom to the bulb, which 
are of a beautiful white color, graceful and exceedingly 
fragrant. The same treatment as for the other Hya- 
cinths will do, though they do not need to be covered 
with ashes as described for the others, and can be brought 
in to the house sooner, and by a regular succession of 
bulbs a continued crop of bloom can be kept up from 
December until May. There are other varieties of the 
Roman Hyacinth, but it is only the white that we con- 
sider of much value’to us. On account of its early 
blooming, it is not much used for bedding, as it gets in 
bloom almost before the snow gets off the ground, and 
coming this early in the cold they are always small and 
of a stunted appearance. It is only in a pit, greenhouse, 
or sitting room, that they show off to advantage. Hya- | 
cinth bulbs that have bloomed in a greenhouse in Winter 
will not do much in the ground the following season; it 
generally takes a couple of years to get them strong 
enough to make even a small bloom spike, and never 
good enough to grow in potsasecond time. It is only 
for amateurs this information is given, as it is often asked 
for by letter at busy seasons, when we ¢an ill afford te 
write it. Florists as a rule always get new bulbs every 
Fall and force them to bloom in the Winter and Spring 
months, and after blooming throw they away and buy 
new bulbs for the next season, the cld bulbs a being 
considered of any practical use to them. 
