On the Cultivation of Hyacinths. 405 



kinds, as those of the lime, elm and birch, rejecting those of the 

 oak, chesnut, and similar kinds, as requiring a greater length of 

 time in their decomposition. The cow-dung is also of a pecu- 

 liar kind, it being collected in the winter season, when the cattle 

 are stall-fed upon dry food, and free from straw or litter. The 

 best sand is procured by digging to a considerable depth. That 

 which the florists use around Haarlem, where the most celebrated 

 growers reside, is procured from a place where the soil is a de- 

 posite of sea sand upon a layer of hard undecayed timber, the 

 remains of an ancient forest overwhelmed by the sea. 



When the leaves are collected together, they are thrown into 

 a large heap, in a situation not too much exposed to the sun, nor 

 where there is likely to be a stagnation of water, which is always 

 carefully drained off. After having lain together for a conside- 

 rable period, and the whole mass becomes considerably decayed, 

 they are ready to be mixed up with the sand and cow-dung; this 

 is done by the Dutch florists in the following manner: first, by 

 placing a layer of sand; then a layer of well decomposed cow- 

 dung, and, lastly, a layer of the rotted leaves, each layer being 

 about ten inches thick. In this manner a large heap is made, 

 finishing the top with a layer of the cow-dung, upon which is 

 placed a small quantity of sand, to prevent the action of the sun 

 upon it. The compost thus remains for six months or more, 

 when, after being thrown over once or twice, it is ready for the 

 formation of the beds for the bulbs. The Dutch florists use 

 this compost indiscriminately for all sorts of bulbs: the first sea- 

 son after the beds are made of this compost, they plant them 

 with tulips, crocuses, and other bulbs, as the fresh soil might 

 canker and otherwise injure the hyacinths; and the florists avoid 

 planting them in the same place two years in succession; in the 

 alternate years the beds are filled with tulips, crocuses, jonquils, 

 &c. &c. This com])ost is generally supposed to retain its qual- 

 ities six or seven years, when it is renewed. 



In the cultivation of the hyacinth w'e have been very success- 

 ful, though we have never been governed by any particular rules 

 in the formation of our compost: we have generally taken such 

 soils as would come nearest to the one mentioned above, although 

 we have never been at the same pains to procure each material. 

 Perhaps our bulbs would have flourished better had they been 

 grown in a compost like that of the Dutch florists; but as they 

 were as fine as any we have ever seen, without farther alluding 

 to their particular soil, we shall give the result of our own obser- 

 vations and experience. 



Hyacinths delight in a very sandy compost: IMr. Knight states, 

 in the Gardener''s Magazine, that the finest hyacinths in Haarlem 

 are grown in a soil so light that " it can be blown away by the 



