THE HYACINTH. 193 



Petty robberies of flowers are not imfrequent 

 among them, and at certain periods they are under 

 the necessity of appointing watchmen to guard 

 them. Pray, Mynheer Bloemist/ inquired my 

 friend one day, ( what are the flowers you princi- 

 pally cultivate ? ' The answer he received was, 

 f the hyacinth, the tulip, the polyanthus-narcissus, 

 the ranunculus, the anemone, the crocus, the jon- 

 quil, the bulbous iris, the gladiolus, the amaryllis, 

 the rose, the lily, the dahlia, and a few other tube- 

 rous and bulbous-rooted plants, which seem by 

 nature suited to our soil and climate, and in which 

 our export trade in flowers principally consists. Of 

 late years we have not paid much attention to the 

 culture of the auricula, for in many parts of Hol- 

 land the situation is too low and humid for this 

 flower to continue in health long together. Of all 

 these our sale of hyacinths is by far the greatest : 

 of late years we have sent, a great many to the 

 United States of America, and to Russia ; but the 

 demand for them from England is regular and con- 

 stant : we have standing orders from the principal 



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