75 



HYACINTHUS ORIENTALIS. 



GARDEN HYACINTH. 



Class, HEXANDRIA. Ouder, MONOGYNIA, 

 Natur.u. OiiDTAi, ASPHODKLE/E. 



The eastern or garden hyacinth is one of our 

 principal bed-flowers. So much and so long has 

 its cultivation been prosecuted, that it forms a 

 staple commodity of commerce from certain parts 

 of Holland to all the other states of Ei^rope. The 

 Dutch florists excel in the business of raising 

 hyacinths and other bulbs, and on a scale more 

 hke agriculture than horticulture. They have, in 

 fact, engrossed almost the whole trade in bulbs. In 

 this they have been no less fortunate in possessing 

 a peculiarly suitable soil than they have been 



