204 THE HYACINTH. 



of England, were the experiment fairly made, the 

 hyacinth might be cultivated with success ; the spot 

 chosen ought to be situated near to the sea-coast, 

 and the soil a light sandy earth of tolerable depth. 

 I am told this flower thrives well in Devonshire ; 

 and there are many florists, within the circle of my 

 acquaintance, who yearly bloom from a hundred to 

 two hundred bulbs ; and, according to the account 

 given by them, with tolerable success in general, 

 both as regards the fineness of the blossom and the 

 condition of the bulb when taken up. There is a 

 rich tract of land by the side of the Humber, and 

 along the banks of the Trent in Yorkshire, where 

 the finest kidney potatoes in all England are/aised, 

 with clear skins, free from all speck and scab ; bulbs 

 of all sorts, I am satisfied, would thrive in this soil, 

 and that they w^ould rise with clear skins and silvery 

 coats, equal to those imported from Holland. 



I hold it the extreme of folly in any one, who has 

 ,a garden, to cast away the roots which have flowered 

 in glasses, much less those in pots ; the thousands 

 that are suffered to perish in this way every year in 



