October o, 1S76. J 



JOURNAL Of HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



297 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



Day 



Day 



of 



of 



Month 



Week. 



S 



TH 



<i 



F 



7 



S 



8 



Son 



9 



M 



10 



To 



11 



TV 



OCTOBER 5—11, 1876. 



17 Sunday after. Trinity. 



T. A. Knight born, 1758. 

 Old Michaelmas Day. 



Average 



Temperature near 



London. 



Day. 



Night. 



60.5 



40.3 



61.8 



43.2 



6S.7 



43.4 



61.7 



42.0 



60.7 



42.4 



61.6 



43.3 



61.7 



42.4 



Mean, 

 50.4 

 52.5 

 53.6 

 51.8 

 51.5 

 52.4 

 52.1 



Sun 

 Rises. 



b. m. 



6 9 



6 11 



6 12 



6 14 



6 16 



6 17 



6 19 



Snn 

 Sets. 



Moon 

 BiseB. 



Moon 

 Sets. 



fc. m. 



6 58 



8 15 



9 35 

 10 58 



0a23 



1 48 



3 3 



Moon's 

 Age. 



Days. 

 18 

 19 

 20 

 21 

 22 

 ( 

 24 



Clock 

 before 

 Snn. 



11 44 



12 2 

 12 19 

 12 35 



12 51 



13 7 

 13 22 



Day 

 01 



Tear. 



279 

 280 

 2S1 

 2«2 

 283 

 284 



From observations taken near London during forty-three years, the average day temperature of the week is 61.6" 

 42.4". 



and its night temperature 



CULTUBE OF HYACINTHS AND OTHER 

 SPRING BULBS. 



URSERYMEN and seedsmen are now busy 

 executing orders for these spring-flowering 

 bulbs, and those intending to purchase should 

 not delay any longer. When the bulbs arrive 

 they ought to be placed in a dry position. 

 They are usually packed in buckwheat chaff, 

 and in a damp close place this becomes 

 musty and causes decay in the bulbs. Early 

 in September is the best time to pot Hya- 

 cinths for early flowering. Another potting 

 should take place about the first week in October, and 

 those intended to flower very late should be potted the 

 last week in October or the first week in November. 

 There is not much difference of opinion amongst the 

 best growers as to the proper constituents of the potting 

 material ; good sandy loam, leaf soil, decayed cow manure, 

 and river sand make a suitable compost. If the loam is 

 clayey it is "not well adapted for the culture of Hyacinths, 

 but if a larger proportion of sand is added to it, it will 

 greatly improve the compost. Six-inch pots are the best 

 for the late-flowering sorts, and 5-inch are sufficiently 

 large for those bulbs that are forced early. 



A few words may be written as to the manner of 

 potting. A very usual way is to fill the pot loosely with 

 the compost, place the bulb with its base on the surface 

 and then press the bulb down to a sufficient depth ; this 

 is wrong in practice, though it may seem right in theory. 

 Bulbs potted in that way are often thrown out of the soil 

 altogether, because the roots fail to penetrate into the 

 hard material underneath. The proper way is to make 

 a hole with the fingers for the bulb, and then in potting 

 press the soil firmly round it. A little sand placed in the 

 hole first is desirable. 



The best position for the bulbs after they are potted is 

 out of doors. The pots should be placed on a hard bottom 

 of coal ashes, or some material through which worms will 

 not care to force a passage. I generally cover the pots 

 to a depth of 3 or 4 inches with cocoa-nut fibre refuse, 

 and there they are left until it is time to remove them 

 under glass. Coal ashes are not good to plunge them in, 

 often causing -decay in the flower spikes. 



Many persons think that the best place to put the 

 Hyacinths in after they are potted is under the Btage of the 

 greenhouse ; this is a great mistake, a worse position 

 could scarcely be found for them. Those pots that are 

 placed underneath where water drains from the pots on 

 the stage become sodden with water and the soil becomes 

 sour ; others receive none and suffer from drought, and 

 for other reasons this place ought not to be chosen for 

 them. 



Sometimes it is necessary to retard the roots, and this 

 I have seen done in a way that was not commendable. 

 They were left in the plunging material until the end of 

 February or the first week in March, and the plants had 

 grown nearly 6 inches, having much the appearance of 

 blanched Seakale. The leaves and flower spikes soon 

 No ST.— Vol. XXXI., New Seeies, 



became green by exposure to the light, but a check was 

 experienced from which the plants never recovered. 

 When the plants are intended for very late flowering 

 they ought to be removed to a cold frame behind a north 

 wall early in January, and the pots may be plunged to 

 prevent injury from frost. Those who grow for exhibition 

 will also be careful to remove their stock to a cold frame 

 or pit at the same time. 



By the 1st of January the bulbs have started to grow 

 upward and the pots are fairly well-filled with roots, and 

 on their removal to the cold frame or pit a small pot 

 should be inverted over the crown for a few days, as the 

 sudden change from the cold plunging material to the 

 dry atmosphere of the pit might be injurious to the tender 

 growth. If there are no other plants in the frame with 

 the Hyacinths the lights might be kept close for a few 

 days and the glass be covered with mats ; this is the 

 most convenient way when large quantities are grown. 

 A heated pit is a more suitable place for them than a 

 cold frame, for the obvious reason that they might in the 

 cold frame be checked in then- growth by severe frost, 

 and even if mats are placed over them it is not so well 

 as keeping severe cold from them by hot-water pipes. 

 Plenty of air ought to be admitted even at night if the 

 weather is mild. The flower spikes and foliage are formed 

 very rapidly, and it is a sign of bad cultivation if the 

 leaves do not retain their natural erect position until the 

 spike decays. 



Perhaps the best Hyacinths in the world have been 

 exhibited at South Kensington and Regent's Park Botanic 

 Garden, but one very often sees otherwise well-grown 

 examples having the leaves hanging about and tied round 

 the middle with a strip of matting. In many cases this 

 is caused by the Hyacinths being placed in a high tempe- 

 rature to force them in by a certain date. I have known 

 good growers place them in a night temperature of 70° ; 

 but this in itself must be called bad management of 

 another kind, as the proper way to force Hyacinths is to 

 place them in a house near the glass with a temperature 

 of not more than 55°, and a chink for air should be left in 

 the ventilators all night. Of course it requires a little 

 experience as to the best time to place them in heat. 



Some varieties take much longer than others to arrive 

 at the point nearest perfection. For instance, take two 

 single blues — Baron Von Tuyll and King of the Blues, place 

 them in the forcing house together, and Baron Von Tuyll 

 would be in flower from two to three weeks before the 

 other. Von Schiller, Cavaignac, Vurbaak, single reds, 

 are amongst the latest. Sometimes one bulb will throw 

 up two, three, or more spikes ; when this is the case all 

 the inferior spikes should be removed, allowing only the 

 best one to remain — that is, if they are intended for exhi- 

 bition ; if only for decorative purposes in the greenhouse 

 all the spikes may be allowed to remain. When the 

 flowers are fully expanded the plants ought to be kept as 

 cool as possible ; plenty of air should be admitted, but 

 they ought not to be exposed to draughts, and during 

 bright sunshine some Blight shading ought to be placed 

 over the glass. When Hyacinths are forced very early 



No. 1462.— Vol. LVI., Old SEsrEs 



