chap. Tin.] HYACINTHS. 239 



bulb planted in dry sand, in not more than four 

 and twenty hours after the piece has been cut 

 out. 



Hyacinths are propagated by offsets, by 

 dividing the bulb, and by seed, in which last 

 case they are five years before they flower. 

 When planted in pots or boxes, the pot or box 

 should be very deep, and it should be half-filled 

 with broken potsherds, or some similar material, 

 to insure perfect drainage, and the bulbs 

 should be planted in a compost of peat, sand, 

 and very rotten cow-dung. The bulbs should 

 only be about half-covered with soil ; and, if in 

 boxes, they should be kept, if practicable, in 

 a greenhouse, till they are ready to flower. 

 If in pots, they should be plunged into a hot- 

 bed or into a tan-stove; or where this cannot 

 be done, they should be buried in the garden, so 

 that the point of the bulb should be at least 

 four inches below the surface. Here they 

 should remain till about six weeks before flower- 

 ing, when the pots should be taken out, and 

 placed where they are to flower; the sides of 

 the pots being kept warm with moss, and the 

 flowers brought forward by daily waterings. 

 All hyacinths grown in pots and boxes will 

 require abundance of water, to make amends 

 for the unnatural situation in which their roots 

 are placed. After hyacinths have flowered in 

 pots or boxes or in water glasses, the bulbs 

 are generally planted in the open ground, and, 

 being covered with about an inch of soil, they 

 are left to take their chance. Thus treated, the 

 finer kinds generally perish, but the hardier 

 ones will live and flower for several years, if 



