GARDEN 



AND 



FARM TOPICS. 



BULBS A1VO THEIR. CUI/TUR.E. 



THE HYACINTH, (Hyacinthus.) 



THE Hyacinth is placed first in the list of bulbs, as it 

 certainly deserves to be. Its easy culture, both in-doors 

 and out ; its immense variety of double and single flowers, 

 embracing nearly every shade of color ; and its delicious 

 fragrance, all combine to make it pre-eminent above all 

 other bulbs, if not above all other families of plants, the 

 Rose excepted. It was first introduced into England in 

 1596. Gerarde, in his " Herbal," published near the end of 

 the sixteenth century, describes four kinds, the single and 

 the double blue, the purple, and the violet ; and John 

 Parkinson, writing in 1629, describes eight kinds, among 

 which, by this time, white and red colors had appeared. 



During the two and a half centuries that have passed 

 since Parkinson wrote, there has been a steady improve- 

 ment in the size, form, and color of the flowers of this plant. 

 From the eight varieties of 1629, described by John 

 Parkinson, more than four thousand varieties have been 

 produced and catalogued, from which number upward of 



