348 LECTURE ON SPRING FLOWERING PLANTS. 



placed first in a cold frame and then in a greenhouse with 

 gentle heat, they will bloom in great perfection early in 

 March. If removed in December and a little more heat 

 employed, they will flower early in February. If removed 

 in November, they should, a fair amount of heat being 

 employed, flower in January. It should be borne in mind 

 that a plentiful supply of water is requisite at the period 

 when the leaves and flower spikes are expanding, and 

 during the whole period of flowering. The spikes of 

 flowers should also be tied up almost day by day to 

 preserve their symmetry. 



This, then, is the way in which the Hyacinths before 

 you are produced in pots. The rationale of cultivation in 

 glasses in water is the same ; but instead of pots glasses 

 are used, instead of earth, water, instead of covering with 

 fibre, we place the glasses if transparent in a dark cup- 

 board, principally for the reason that the roots feed most 

 freely in the dark. But we must not keep them in the 

 dark too long. Gradually inure them to the light when 

 the roots are fairly developed, and before the leaves 

 are two inches long. The season of flowering, as with 

 Hyacinths in pots, will depend on the temperature of the 

 house or room in which they are grown. It was remarked to 

 me to-day "Your Hyacinths are unusually short and stout. 

 I have some good spikes, but they are slender, attenuated, 

 and disposed to droop. How is this ?" My answer is, they 

 have had at some period of their growth too much heat or 

 too little light ; either or a combination of both influences 

 would produce the elongation complained of. Tulips, 

 Narcissi, and Crocuses, which are of a kindred nature with 

 Hyacinths, should be managed in the same way. All of 

 them may likewise be planted in beds or borders out-of- 

 doors, a few inches under the soil, in the month of Novem- 

 ber, when the Crocuses will flower in February, the 

 Hyacinths, Tulips, and Narcissi in March and April. 



The next plant for consideration is the Lily of the 

 Valley. Although a native plant, abounding in the woods 



