462 Remarks on the Policing of Hyacinths. 



out of all decent form and character as shrubs, may be well 

 cut up into standards ; and nurserymen M-^ho have many sub- 

 jects grown uncouth, and "out of money," as it is called 

 when they are too big and too ugly to sell, might advanta- 

 geously turn them to standards ; for it is rare to find any 

 shrub that has outgrown its beauty, but what may be easily 

 converted to a standard of some height, either a d^varf stand- 

 ard, a half standard, or a whole one. This does not apply 

 to azaleas only, but to many other shrubs not usually grown 

 otherwise ; but not the less desirable nor the less effective for 

 being grown as trees instead of keeping to their natural habit. 



Art. V. Remarks on the Forcing of Hyacinths. 

 By H. Bock. 



The varieties of the Oriental Hyacinth (Hyacinthus ori- 

 entalis) combine in so great a degree the qualities both of 

 beauty and fragrance, as to have become universal favorites 

 wherever they have been introduced ; and these grand 

 requisites, combined with the ease and certainty with which 

 they may be procured in perfection during nearly all winter 

 and spring, until they appear in the open ground, render 

 them indispensable for the decoration of the conservatory 

 during the most dreary portion of the year. 



If these floral gems are wanted by or before Christmas, 

 the bulbs ought to be procured at the earliest possible oppor- 

 tunity, by no means later than the begiiming of October, 

 immediately potted, and set in a shady place, as under a 

 north wall, etc., and covered from four to six inches thick 

 with sawdust, old tan, or, best of all, sifted coal-ashes. The 

 object to be gained by this treatment is to get the pot well 

 filled with roots, on which all the after success depends ; for 

 if these are not obtained previous to placing the bulbs in 

 heat, a weak, shrunk or rotten flower stalk is all that results. 



The bulbs best adapted for forcing are those which are 

 large, firm, round, and with the least appearance of offsets. 



