October.'] CROCUS HYACINTHS. 121 



ral failure may, in part, be attributed to the very inferior 

 roots annually sent from Holland, which rarely arrive in 

 good order; and those that do grow are very discouraging, 

 never making a tuber sufficient for another year's planting. 

 Several hundred varieties are cultivated in England with great 

 care and complete success. They are planted in a deep rich 

 soil, usiug a considerable portion of cow manure and decom- 

 posed leaves, coveriug the crowns of the roots about two 

 inches. The tubes are flat, but the eye from whence the 

 flower-stem arises is apparent on one of the sides, which must 

 be laid uppermost. During the severity of winter they should 

 be protected by a frame, and have a sprinkling of very dry 

 leaves strewn among them. 



Crocus. There are upwards of one hundred varieties of 

 this vernal flower in cultivation, attended with universal suc- 

 cess. They delight in rich soils, and may either be planted 

 in beds or rows, at least two inches deep, and six inches from 

 row to row they seldom require removal ; every three or 

 four years will be sufficient. They can be purchased at from 

 seventy-five cents to two dollars per hundred, according to 

 quality. When they are done blooming, the foliage should 

 not be removed till perfectly decayed. 



Fritilldria, or Crown Imperial. See last month. 



Hyacinths. The ground that was prepared for these last 

 month should all be divided into beds four feet wide, leaving 

 between each alleys of twenty inches. Skim off four or five 

 inches of the surface of the former into the latter, level the 

 bed smoothly with the rake, and mark it off in rows eight 

 inches apart. Plant the roots in the row eight inches asunder. 

 Thus they will be in squares, and by planting the different 

 colours, alternately, the bed will be beautifully diversified. 

 Cover each bulb with sand, when it can be procured. Put 

 about four inches of earth over the crowns, which will make 

 the beds from two to three inches higher than the alleys. The 

 beds before and after planting should be gently rounded from 

 the middle to each side, to let the rain pass off. Finish all 

 by raking evenly, straighten the edgings with the line, and 

 clear out the alleys or pathways. 



We have grown Hyacinths in great perfection, when, in 

 addition to the above, we covered them with two to three 

 inches of cow manure. The Dutch florists name nearly two 

 thousand varieties of this flower, and have large fields de- 

 voted to their culture. When the double varieties were firet 

 11 



