540 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. 



but with the glasses now in use it can only be eifected by being poured off, 

 for to take the roots out every day is to bend, bruise, or otherwise injure 

 them. Were the glasses furnished with a tap at the bottom, or provided 

 with a little siphon, it would be much more convenient ; very frequent re- 

 newal of the water is at any rate necessary. The Avater itself should be 

 impregnated with those nutritious ingredients which good hyacinth soil 

 always contains. Probably the best substance that could be provided would 

 be pure guano water, prepared by thoroughly mixing an ounce of Peruvian 

 guano with a pint of water, allowing it to stand for a couple of days, stirring 

 it occasionally, and then, when perfectly clear, drawing it off carefully. A 

 teaspoonful of this solution might be added to every glass, as often as the 

 water is changed. A weak solution of phosphate of ammonia and carbonate 

 of potash, mixed in equal parts, might be substituted for the guano water ; 

 and it would be interesting to watch the difference in the effect produced 

 by the two agents. 



3. If a bulb is covered with water, it will absorb it faster than it can de- 

 compose it ; of which the inevitable consequence is disease or death. ^ The 

 parts to which nature has limited the duty of suckling the leaves and flow- 

 ers are the concave surface at the base of the bulb, and the roots as soon as 

 they are formed. If other parts are brought into contact with water they 

 also must absorb fluid to their own destruction; for plants, notwithstanding 

 that they have a living principle like animals, possess no will of their own- 

 They cannot refuse to take up what is presented to them, although their 

 vital energy may be insufficient to enable them to assimilate it. Water, 

 then, should be scarcely in contact with the lower part of the bulb ; it is 

 better, indeed, that a space of a quarter of an inch should be always left 

 between them, for the vapor arising from water is enough for a bulb to feed 

 upon until roots shall have been formed, and the powers of digestion called 

 into full activity. 



4. In all cases where plants behave as nature intends, the root, or its 

 equivalent, appears before the leaves ; we see it in seedling plants, we see 

 it in cuttings and in layers, we see it in budded or grafted plants, where the 

 cellular matter (callus) which binds the scion to the stock always precedes 

 the appearance of leaves. The reason is obvious. It is necessary that the 

 organ which is to feed a plant should precede the parts that are to be fed. 

 If, then, in the case of the hyacinth, leaves and flowers are permitted to 

 form before the roots have acquired their full power of action, the leaves 

 and flowers must subsist upon the organizable matter contained in the bulb, 

 not on that to be obtained from the water (or soil) ; and debility, deformity, 

 or utter abortion are the result. Now the great stimulant of leaf develop- 

 ment is light; the great antagonist of root development is light; therefore 

 darkness is what should be provided for the hyacinth in the beginning 

 This truth is pretty generally recognized, but is as generally misapplied. 

 People think that if the roots are kept in darkness it signifies little what 

 happens to the bud. But nature does not work in that manner, nor do Mr. 

 Henderson's growers. The buds are buried as well as the roots. We have 

 seen hyacinth glasses carefully provided with worsted stockings, while the 



