HYACINTH 



2883 



HYDERABAD 



The root attains its principal' growth in the 

 fall, and during the winter months the beds 

 are covered with leaves or rotted manure. 

 Early in the spring, when the flowers appear, 

 the stems are tied to slender stakes to protect 

 them from accident. In the summer, after the 

 leaves have withered, the bulbs are taken up 

 and stored in dry soil or sand. Florists, by 



The hyacinth for constancy wi' its unchanging 

 blue. BURNS : O Luve Will Venture In. 



potting the bulbs early in September, can 

 force the plants to blossom by Christmas time. 

 In the home the flowers are grown in hyacinth 

 glasses filled with water. 



The hyacinth appears in a favorite old Greek 

 myth, in which it is said to have sprung from 

 the blood of the beautiful Spartan youth, Hya- 

 cinthus, the friend of Apollo. Zephyrus, jeal- 

 ous because Hyacinthus favored Apollo, caused 

 the latter's quoit to strike and kill the youth 

 while the two were at play. Grief-stricken, 

 Apollo caused a purple flower to spring from 

 the drops of blood that fell from the brow 

 of Hyacinthus. R.D.M. 



HYBRID, hi'brid, the offspring of parents of 

 two distinct species, examples of which are 

 found among plants, beasts, birds, fish and 

 insects. Among animals the most common and 

 most useful hybrid is the mule, which is half 

 ass, half horse (see MULE). Hybridity has 

 much greater practical value in the vegetable 

 kingdom than in the animal. The advantages 

 of crossing plants are numerous, the most im- 

 portant being increase of size and vigor, greater 

 hardiness and ability to resist disease, improve- 

 ment of quality and flavor and increased power 

 of adaptability to different climates. A notable 

 illustration of increase in size and vigor is fur- 

 nished by the crossing of the English walnut 

 and the California black walnut, which has a 

 rate of growth double that of both parents 

 combined. By the crossing of the common 

 pear and the Chinese sand pear, the area de- 

 voted to pear growing has been extended sev- 

 eral hundred miles southward. 



In France when the grape industry seemed 

 doomed to destruction because of the ravages 

 of the Phylloxera, the grapes were saved by 

 being crossed with an American species which 

 was immune. A striking example of improve- 

 ment in flavor is furnished by certain superior 

 grades of smoking tobacco, the result of cross- 

 ing the best quality of Havana tobacco with 

 species having larger leaves. Potatoes have 

 been made to double their yield per acre by 

 means of the hybridizing process, and ha-ve also 

 increased their content of starch from fifteen 

 to twenty-six per cent. The remarkable suc- 

 cess of Luther Burbank in crossing vegetables, 

 fruits and flowers is representative of what can 

 be done in this important line of industry. 

 See BURBANK, LUTHER. 



Consult Bateson's Mendel's Principles of Hered- 

 ity ; Jordan and Kellogg's Scientific Aspect of 

 Luther Burbank's Work. 



HYDERABAD, hider ahbahd' , the fourth 

 city in population in India, and the capital of 

 the state of the same name, which is known 

 also as the Nizam's Dominions, is situated in 

 the central part of lower India, east of Bom- 

 bay. It is a wall-enclosed city, on the Musi 

 River, which at this point is spanned by seven 

 bridges, and the town is connected by rail 

 with the railway system of India. In the vi- 

 cinity is located the vast British military camp 

 of Secunderabad. A striking feature of the 

 city is the Char Minar, or "College of Four 

 Minarets,'' built above four connected arches, 

 at the intersection of the four principal streets. 

 The Nizam's palace, the Mecca mosque and 



