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HENDERSON'S HANDBOOK OF PLANTS 



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tioned and described eight different varieties. 

 He tells us " some are pure white ; another is 

 almost white, but having a show of blueness, 

 especially at the brims and bottoms of the 

 flowers ; others again are of a very faint 

 blush ; some are of as deep a purple as a vio- 

 let; others of a purple tending to redness, 

 and some of a paler purple ; some again 

 are of a fair blue ; and some so pale 

 a blue as if it were more white than blue. 

 After the flowers are past, there rise 

 up great three-square heads, bearing round 

 black seed, great and shining." During the 

 two hundred and fifty years that have passed 

 since the above was penned, there has been a 

 steady improvement in the size, form and 

 color of the flowers of this plant. From the 

 eight varieties of 1629, more than four thous- 

 and varieties have been produced and cata- 

 logued, from which number upward of two 

 hundred varieties are subjects of extensive 

 commerce. Tho Hyacinth is a universal 

 favorite in the most extended application of 

 the word. The number of its varieties is now 

 fully equal to that of any other florist's 

 flower. They are usually grown for forcing 

 into flower in the dull, cheerless months of 

 winter and early spring, when their delicately- 

 colored flowers and rich fragrance lend a 

 charm not otherwise to be found. They are 

 equally desirable for planting in beds, or in 

 the garden border. For forcing, the bulbs 

 should be potted about the middle of Septem- 

 ber in five inch pots in rich, light earth, and 

 placed in a cold frame or under a wall, where 

 they can be covered with wooden shutters, 

 or some similar contrivance, to keep off heavy 

 rains ; in either case they should be covered 

 a foot thick with newly-fallen leaves, and 

 being once well watered after potting, they 

 may be left for a month to form their roots, 

 when the most forward should be brought 

 out, and placed in a gentle heat. Some care 

 is necessary in the application and increase of 

 this, or the flowers will be abortive ; it should 

 not exceed 50 for the first three weeks, but 

 afterward may be increased gradually to 60 

 or 65, and if the pots are plunged into bottom 

 heat the same careful increase should be ob- 

 served, or the points of the roots will infal- 

 libly be killed. One-third the depth of the 

 pot is fully sufficient at first, and if the heat 

 is brisk they should not be plunged moi'e than 

 half way at any time. When the flower stems 

 have risen to nearly their full height, and the 

 lower flowers of the spike are beginning to 

 expand, the plants should be removed to a 

 lower temperature, usually afforded by the 

 green-house, and when the flowers are fully 

 expanded, the plants can be taken to the sit- 

 ting-room or wherever their presence is de- 

 sired, observing to protect them from sudden 

 changes or cold draughts of air, and the 

 water given to them should be moderately 

 warm. Hyacinths in glasses are an elegant 

 and appropriate ornament to the drawing- 

 room, and for this purpose occasion little 

 trouble. The bulbs should be procured and 

 placed in the glasses as early in the season as 

 possible, keeping them in the dark until their 

 roots are well started, after which the lightest 

 position that can be afforded is the best; the 

 water in which they grow should be changed 

 twice or thrice a week, and in severe weather 

 the plants must be removed from the window, 



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so as to be secure from frost. For decorating 

 the flower garden, the bulbs should be 

 planted in October or the early part of No- 

 vember, in light, rich soil, at a depth of four 

 inches from the crown of the bulb to the surface 

 of the earth. It may be necessary to place sticks 

 to them when in bloom, to prevent them from 

 being broken by the wind, and this is all the 

 attention they require till the foliage is with- 

 ered, and the season has arrived for taking 

 them up, when, instead of the usual practice 

 of drying them at once in the sun, we would 

 advise the Dutch method to be adopted, 

 namely, to place them side by side on a sunny 

 spot of ground, and cover them with about an 

 inch of loose earth, to thoroughly ripen by the 

 subdued heat imparted to the earth which 

 surrounds them. Left in this position for a 

 fortnight, they will become dry and firm, and 

 an hour or two of sunshine will finish them 

 properly for storing. The multiplication and 

 growth of Hyacinths for sale is principally 

 carried on out of doors in the vicinity of 

 Haarlem, in Holland. The sandy soil, and 

 moisture of both soil and climate in that 

 country, are peculiarly favorable to the growth 

 of the Hyacinth. Hundreds of acres are there 

 devoted to the culture of these and kindred 

 plants, and the Haarlem gardens are a gay 

 sight from the early season of the year till far 

 on in the summer. The process of multipli- 

 cation is carried on by sowing the seeds, or 

 by taking offsets from the parent bulb. By 

 seeds new varieties only are obtained ; it is 

 by offsets the already known and valued 

 kinds are increased. The bulbs are cut cross- 

 wise and sprinkled with sand to absorb any 

 superfluous moisture that may exude from the 

 incisions. After a time they are planted in 

 the earth, when numerous small bulbs are 

 formed on the edges of these incisions. At 

 the expiration of one season they -are again 

 lifted from the ground, and the numerous 

 small bulbs, still only partially developed, 

 are separated from the parent root, and 

 planted out again and again, year after year, 

 for three or four years, before they become 

 flowering bulbs of fine market quality. The 

 white .Roman Hyacinth is largely used for 

 forcing for winter flowers by the florists of 

 New York and all large cities. In New York 

 alone upward of one million bulbs are 

 used during the winter, and the number 

 is rapidly increasing each year. The flower 

 spikes average four cents each at wholesale. 

 By a succession of plantings, beginning in Sep- 

 tember, they arc had in flower from November 

 till May, and even later. The method pur- 

 sued is similar to that for the Lily of the Valley 

 (See Convallaria, where the method is de- 

 scribed). H. Candicans, Syn. Galtonia, is a 

 very showy species, forming a scape four to 

 five feet high, including a raceme of from 

 fifteen to thirty pure white, large, fragrant, 

 drooping flowers, admirably adapted for grow- 

 ing in clumps, in borders, or on lawns. Al- 

 though a native of south Africa, it is quite 

 hardy, more especially if slightly protected 

 with leaves, etc. 



Hybrid. Hybrids are plants obtained by ap- 

 plying the pollen of one species to the stigma 

 of another; the common offspring of two 

 distinct species. 



