CHAP. VIII.] HYACINTHS. 235 



The roots also require the soil to be very rich, 

 but that the manure used should be of the kind 

 called cold. It will easily be seen, from this 

 enumeration of the essentials for hyacinth cul- 

 ture, why Holland is so pre-eminently the 

 country for hyacinths. The dry sandy soil, 

 raised on the numerous dykes and embank- 

 ments by means of which Holland has been 

 rescued from the sea, affords at once a proper 

 bed for the bulbs, and a soil easily penetrable 

 by the roots ; while the constant evaporation 

 rising from the water, which is everywhere 

 found below the dykes, is just what is required 

 with regard to moisture. Even the manure 

 most easily obtained in Holland is precisely that 

 best adapted for hyacinths, as it is cow-dung 

 unmixed with straw ; which thus contains no- 

 thing to induce fermentation and consequent 

 heat. 



It is impossible in England to obtain the 

 advantages so easily attainable by the Dutch, 

 without incurring a very considerable expense. 

 Our soil is generally so adhesive that it re- 

 quires to be pulverised to a very great depth to 

 admit of the descent of the roots ; and even 

 when the soil is sandy, it is very different from 

 the beautiful silvery sea-sand called Diinensande 

 by the Dutch. The only way in which we can 

 imitate this sand is, by mixing nearly in equal 

 parts what we call silver-sand and peat, or by 

 growing the plants in silver-sand, with a very 

 slight admixture of fine vegetable mould. What- 

 ever the soil may be, it can hardly be too light; 

 as the Dutch say that the hyacinth will never 

 thrive, unless in sand so fine as to be blown 



