GLOXINIA HYACINTH 291 



The soil most suitecl to Gloxinias is a light compost of fibrous loam, 

 combined with a little peat and silver sand. Watering with manure 

 water during the growing period twice a week is helpful, but it should 

 be discontinued when the flowers show colour. The plants love shade, 

 and at no time should suffer from drought. Storing Gloxinias for 

 their season of rest, i.e. the winter, must be carefully attended to, as 

 losses frequently occur during this stage. It is also important that 

 the plants should not be ' dried off ' too quickly, but let them rather 

 be placed in a light, airy position, and by a gradual reduction of 

 moisture the leaves will fall off naturally. The bulbs may then be stored 

 away on a shelf, in an even temperature of about 50, each bulb 

 being closely surrounded by cocoa-nut fibre and peat in equal parts 

 to prevent excessive dryness, which, like too much damp, often causes 

 the loss of the bulb. 



Besides growing the same plants from year to year, it is always 

 desirable to have a fresh stock coming on, as the old bulbs may 

 deteriorate after two or three years. This can easily be managed 

 by successive sowings of seed, as advised at page 241. 



HEMEROCALLIS (Seepage 300) 



HYACINTH 



THIS most valuable of early flowering bulbs is so accommodating that 

 it can be flowered in a variety of ways by very simple modes of treat- 

 ment, and may be employed as a hardy, rough-weather plant for the 

 garden border, or as a grand exhibition and conservatory flower. The 

 bulbs may be planted at any time from September to the middle of 

 December, with the certainty of their blooming well, if properly cared 

 for ; but the prudent cultivator will plant them as early as possible in 

 the autumn, and so manage them afterwards as to secure the longest 

 period of growth previous to their flowering. They may be forced to 

 flower at Christmas, but the more slowly the flowers are developed, 

 the finer in the end will they be. To obtain good bulbs is a matter 

 of the utmost importance, and it may be useful here to remark that 

 the mere size of a Hyacinth bulb is no criterion of its value nor, 

 indeed, is its neatness of form or brightness of appearance. The two 

 most important qualities are soundness and density. If the bulbs are 

 hard and heavy in proportion to their size, they may be depended on 



