DUTCH BULBS. 187 



IN WATER. 



When hyacinths are to be grown in water, choose the 

 darkest-colored glasses. It is a good plan to keep the 

 bulbs for a few weeks in damp moss, to encourage the 

 growth of roots. Place them in the glasses about the last 

 of November, or later ; the water should just touch the 

 base of the bulb. Keep them in a warm, dark place until 

 the glass is half full of roots. Rain water should be used, 

 and changed once a fortnight ; any loss by evaporation 

 should be supplied. Care must be taken not to use the 

 water too cold ; that filled in, both in changing and re- 

 filling, should be the same temperature as that in which 

 the bulb is growing. 



A few drops of hartshorn, supplied when the water is 

 changed, help the growth. After blooming, the bulbs 

 should at once be re-potted in earth, if the bulb is valua- 

 ble. If by any neglect the roots become coated with green 

 slime, they may be carefully washed in lukewarm water. 



CHOICE OF BULBS. 



The bulb should be hard and solid, and its base sound. 

 Size is no criterion, some of the finest kinds being always 



