184 the lady's country companion. 



orange, have an oppressive fragrance, as have those of the heliotrope 

 and the tuberose ; but those of the mignonnette, the lemon-scented 

 verbena, the rose, the violet, and Lonicera flexuosa are refreshing, at 

 the same time that they yield a delicious perfume. 



I must now give you some hints on cultivating your flowers. To 

 begin with the bulbs, as they flower first in spring. The crocuses 

 and snowdrops should be planted, five or six together, as close as 

 possible, so as to form little tufts ; and these, when once planted, 

 should never be removed, unless they should grow out of bounds, so 

 as to spoil the shape of the bed. The tulips, on the contrary, should 

 be taken up as soon as their leaves begin to decay, and kept in a dry 

 place till the proper time for planting them next year. 



You must observe that there are three kinds of plants which are 

 said to have bulbous roots : those which are solid, and which should 

 be properly called corms, such as the crocus, the corn -flag, and 

 many of the half-hardy plants with similar half-tubular flowers ; the 

 tunicated bulbs, which may be peeled off in scales, such as the onion, 

 the hyacinth, and the tulip ; and the scaly bulbs, such as the lily. 

 Now the real roots of all these plants are the long fibres sent down by 

 the lower part of the bulb, which may be seen plainly in hyacinths 

 grown in glasses, and in any of the kinds if taken up while in a 

 growing state ; and what is called the bulb is, in all the corms, only 

 a contracted stem ; but, in the tunicated and scaly bulbs, the bulbous 

 part is formed of a contracted stem and metamorphosed leaves. If 

 you will take the trouble to examine a hyacinth, you will find at the 

 base of the bulb a flat fleshy substance, called the root-plate, and this 

 is, in fact, the contracted stem of the plant; while the tunics or scales 

 are metamorphosed leaves. In the scaly bulb the stem is plainly 

 perceptible in the centie, and the scales are evidently metamorphosed 

 leaves. You will easily remember these distinctions, and you will 

 find it useful to attend to them in cultivating your garden, as all 

 plants having corms never flower well till they have been allowed to 

 form a mass, which they will not do till they have been in the ground 

 three or four years. 



( To be continued.') 



