HYACINTHS. 



263 



HYACINTHS. 



requires to be deeply dug and well worked ; 

 if heavy, besides deep digging and well 

 working, the bulbs should be surrounded 

 with sand, or, better still, two good hand- 

 fa Is of cocoa fibre ; if wet or subject to 

 occasional floodings, drain the ground with 

 a series of drains, 3 feet deep and 10 feet 

 apart, or raise the bed 6 inches above the 

 general level. When manure is added, 

 thoroughly rotted cow-dung or leaf soil is 

 best ; and when winter protection is given, 

 use long straw laid loosely on the bed, and 

 hooped down to prevent its littering the 

 garden, or cocoa fibre both are equally 

 good, and afford the best protection that 

 can be given ; but they should be removed 

 as soon as the plants begin to show. 



In planting, the crown of the bulb should 

 be 4 inches under the surface, and to pro- 

 duce a very effective display the bulbs 

 should be planted 6 inches apart, but many 

 persons plant them 8 or 10 inches from 

 each other. 



Where the beds are required for the 

 summer occupants before the bulbs have 

 matured themselves, they may either be 

 removed to the reserve garden and care- 

 fully planted in a north border to ripen, or 

 the following plan adopted : Take as 

 many 4-inch pots as you have bulbs, plant 

 one in each, using the best compost you 

 can possibly command, and place the bulbs 

 on the top of the soil. Prepare the ground 

 as already mentioned, then bury the pots 

 as thickly as you please, keeping the top 

 at least 3 or 4 inches under the surface ; as 

 soon as the blossom fades, remove the 

 flower spike, dig up the pots, and replant 

 them in the reserve garden, or place them 

 on a north border, surrounding them with 

 moss, cocoa fibre, or whatever will assist 

 in keeping the roots cool. 



Here a suggestion may be given showing 

 how, on the same bed, two distinct displays 

 of floral beauty can be secured. At the 

 time of planting, groups of crocus, snow- 



drops, winter aconites, or Scilla Sibirica* 

 can be planted in masses these will bloom 

 before the hyacinths ; or in spring, autumn- 

 sown annuals can be pricked in all over 

 the bed these will succeed the hyacinths. 



Hyacinths in Pots. 



To cultivate the hyacinth successfully in 

 pots, a free porous soil is indispensable, 

 and one composed of equal parts of turfy 

 loam, rotted cow-dung, and leaf soil, add- 

 ing about one-eighth part of silver sand, 

 and thoroughly incorporating the whole 

 and passing it through a rough sieve, is 

 undoubtedly the best compost for the pro- 

 duction of handsome flowers. As this, 



HYACINTHS IN POT. 



however, cannot always be commanded, 

 use, instead, road scrapings a year or two 

 old, or good garden loam, not of a reten- 

 tive nature, mixed with silver sand. Cocoa 

 fibre and charcoal, mixed with rotted cow- 

 dung and loam, all in equal parts, make a 

 fine mixture in which to grow hyacinths. 



The size of the pot must be regulated by 

 the accommodation and requirements of 

 the cultivator ; for one bulb a 4- or 4^-incb 



