JUNE.] 407 



THE PLEASURE, OR FLOWER-GARDEN, 



Hyacinths and Tulips. 



MOST of your Hyacinths and Tulips will, in the course of 

 this month, be fit for taking up; and then are to be treated as 

 directed in pages 383 and 384. 



Ranunculuses. 



When the foliage and flower-stems of the ranunculuses appear 

 brown and dry, vegetation has then ceased, and it is the exact time 

 to take up the roots, because if they are suffered to remain in the 

 ground till rainy weather ensues, the roots will begin to shoot 

 afresh, and thereby sustain a considerable injury. When the roots 

 are taken up, their stems, &c. should be cut off close, and they 

 should be placed in a shady, airy room, or situation, to dry gradual- 

 ly ; but before this is perfectly accomplished ; it will be proper to 

 clean and separate them, because, when quite dried, they become 

 hard and brittle, and there is great danger of breaking off their 

 claws : some may be separated into many complete roots, although 

 they are so closely connected, as on a superficial observation, to 

 have the appearance of only one large root. 



Nothing remains to be done, till the return of the planting season, 

 except to stow the sorts separately in bags or boxes, for the sake of 

 convenience, in a dry room ; in which state, they will retain their 

 vegetative power for two years, but will be much weakened if kept 

 out of the ground till the second. 



Anemones. 



The appearance that indicates the proper time of taking up the 

 anemones roots and their subsequent treatment, are the same as for 

 ranunculuses, with only the following caution, viz. that as the roots 

 are exceedingly brittle, it is necessary to handle them very gently 

 upon dressing or cleaning away their fibres and the soil that ad- 

 heres to them ; however, should only small pieces break off, such 

 should not be thrown away, as each will, in the course of two years, 

 become a blooming root. 



The constitution of anemones undergoes considerable changes 

 with age, which perhaps is, in a greater or smaller degree, the case 

 with all other vegetables. The anemone will not last more than 

 twelve or fifteen years* without degenerating, unless it be fre- 



* The ranunculus will last about twenty or twenty-five years in perfec- 

 tion ; it afterwards degenerates and perishes. Tulips and many other kinds 

 of flowers of vigorous constitutions, will continue for a very long time in 

 strength and beauty, so long- as to render it difficult, if not impossible, to as- 

 certain the period of their duration. 



