330 THE HYACINTH. 



The long drooping leaves which we see with some 

 cultivators is due to a too warm or too close atmosphere. 

 So soon as the flower-spike rises, a stiff wire should be 

 passed between the bells the whole length of the spike, 

 the lower end bent outwards till it reaches the circumfer- 

 ence of the pot, winding it round the outside of the pot 

 beneath the rim to keep the spike upright and steady. 

 Plenty of water should be given from the time the leaves 

 begin to grow till the flower shows symptoms of decay, 

 when a gradual diminution should take place. 



When the leaves turn yellow, water should be entirely 

 withheld, and the bulb should be taken from the pot at the 

 end of July, and stowed away in a dry place for planting 

 in beds the following year. The same bulbs can scarcely 

 be recommended for planting in pots or glasses a second 

 year, but are very good for planting out of doors. Masses 

 of Hyacinths may be planted in ornamental pots or 

 baskets, forming the whole mass of one colour, or the 

 centre and circumference of different colours ; and thus 

 ordered, they are at once elegant and effective. 



2. Hyacinths in Glasses. Under this form of culture 

 we have in the Hyacinth the most beautiful of house 

 plants in winter and early spring, arriving at the same 

 degree of perfection in town and country. The single 

 kinds, to my eye always the most beautiful, are especially 

 preferable for glasses on account of their greater earliness 

 and hardihood. Soundness of bulb, at all times important, 

 is more than commonly important here. Set the bulb in 

 the glass so that the lower end, whence the roots are 

 emitted, is almost, but not quite, in contact with the water. 

 Use rain or pond water. Keep the glasses filled up as the 

 water sinks by the feeding of the roots and evaporation. 

 It is a general practice to place Hyacinths in glasses in a 

 dark cupboard or some other place where the light is 

 excluded, and a very good practice it is, for the roots feed 

 more freely in the dark, and thus the system of the plant 

 becomes better stored with food. They may remain in 



