CVLTIVATIUX AXD AXALVSIS OF PLAXTS. 



1 



Placing these plants out nt'tloors rctanl^ or il 

 as the strong sun sears and turns tiic Ua\ t- s yell 

 in the house a thin shade is of service at niidthi 

 tropical climates, ihat tliey should not l;o out at 



the bloum, unless properly shaded, 

 11 which thev never recover; even 

 r tlie ijlass. We think, except in 

 iie\ can he "iveii all the necessarv 



JJ V^VC 1 X T H. 



YACINTHS are among the tirst plants to make their appearance 

 out of doors in spring, and gladden the earth with their bright 

 Viloom. In preparing a bed or box for the bulbs, special care should 

 be exercised, as their fleshy substance renders them an easy prey to 

 disease, and subjects them to the attacks of rats, mice and other enemies. 

 The best soil for them is a very sandy loam well mixed with good leaf- 

 mold and old cow-manine. They should be set in rows, a few inches 

 h way, and then covered three or four inches deep with the soil. A 

 ' 1 'I ' handful of sand placed under each hulh will help to prevent decay. The sea- 

 \ sdii of planting is from the middle of Ocloljer to the same time in No\emher. 



J After they have ceased to bloom, and their leaves have decayed or died down 



surface, the bulbs should be taken up and placed in some shady spot to 

 (lr\, when thev shoukl be stored away in an, airy situation until again required for plant- 

 ing. These plants are also adapted to pot culture, and can be grown singly, or two or 

 three of different colors, in a crock five or six inches wide. .V piece of broken crockery 

 or the like is placed over the hole for drainage; a little old cow-manure is laid thereon, 

 and then the pot is filled, within an inch of the top, with the soil above indicated as best 

 for Hyacinths. Finally the bulb is placed in the soil, with about one-half uncovered. 

 The usual treatinent for bulbous plants, as already given under Crocus, is then followed. 

 Hyacinths can be grown in sand, and also in water. In sand they are placed in a proper 

 receptacle and set awav as abo^■e, the sand being kept merely moist. When the rootlets 

 have got a good start, the leaves will begin to appear, showing that it is time to'brjng 

 them forwartl to the light. In regular Hyacinth glasses there is generally a rim or shal- 

 low cup for the bulb to rest in. The glass is then filled with rainwater so as almost to 

 touch the base of the bulb. The water should be kept pure by inserting a piece of char- 

 coal and by being changed weekly. The glasses should be put away for about a month 

 in some cool dark ]ilace, when the\ will ha\e rootetl sufficiently to be brought forward 

 into the light to linish -rc.wth. Tlie single-flowered varieties are the best for i;lass cul- 

 ture. Hyacinths that have flowered in pots or glasses are afterward fit only for jilantin- 

 in beds or borders. The Hollanders make a specialty of raising Hyacinth bulbs, and ha\ e 

 produced and named two thousand distinct varieties, which they supply in immense cpian- 

 tities to the markets of the world. It may be imagined how gorgeous an a]>]xarance is 

 often presented in the Netherlands by a twenty-acre lot, or more, wholly planted in Hya- 

 cinths; and the fragrance is said to ha\e been noticed fifty miles at sea. 

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