SHRUBBERIES AND FLOWER-GARDENS. CHAP. 



thick, and in a fortnight they will be in a fit state to be 

 cleared of dirt, dead leaves and offsets, and to be put by 

 in a dry but airy place, where they remain till the au- 

 tumn. The composts used in flowering bulbous roots are, 

 either,! One half heath mould, a fourth part river sand, and a 

 fourth part well-rotted cow-dung ; or, 2. Two thirds sand, and 

 one third well-consumed leaves ; or, 3. One third river sand, one 

 third fresh earth, one fourth rotten cow-dung, and the rest leaf- 

 mould. These must be prepared a twelvemonth before 

 they are used ; kept in the air, and frequently turned, or 

 it is impossible that the different materials should be 

 properly incorporated one with the other. To procure 

 fresh varieties, sow well-ripened seed from a strong, hand- 

 some, and semi-double plant. Choose a well-protected 

 place, make a nice bed of good compost, and sow in 

 drills five inches apart, in the month of September. In 

 the severe frosts, cover over the young plants, and keep 

 grass and weeds from growing amongst them. Cover 

 with clean straw, or thatch. When, in the following 

 summer, the plants die down, hoe between them and 

 give them an inch or so thick of covering of your com- 

 post ; and protect them again the next winter. Same treat- 

 ment for the following summer, and then, in the fourth, 

 they may be taken up and treated as plants for flowering. 

 In water-glasses, the hyacinth makes a very agreeable 

 show in the house during the most dismal part of the 

 winter. Get blue glasses, as more congenial to the roots 

 than white ones, fill them with rain-water, with a few 

 grains of salt in each, and put in enough water to come 

 up the bulb about the fourth part of an inch. Change 

 the water carefully every week, and place the plants in 

 the lightest and most airy part of the room, or green- 



