HYACINTHUS 



THE BULB BOOK 



HYACINTHUS 



All the popular garden Hyacinths 

 are descended from II. orientalis, a 

 native of Syria, Asia Minor, etc., 

 with roundish bulbs, lance-shaped 

 channelled leaves, and blue flowers 

 {Bot. Mag. t. 937 ; Bot. Beg. t. 995 ; 

 Bed. Lil. t. 465). 



Holland is the great centre of pro- 

 duction — the sandy soil well enriched 

 with old cow-manure being particu- 

 larly well -suited to the plants. About 

 six rows, 9 ins. apart, are grown in 

 narrow beds, and hurdles are placed 

 on the windward side to shelter the 

 plants in spring from the sand storms. 

 Hundreds of thousands of bulbs are 

 exported every autumn to the United 

 Kingdom, the United States, France, 

 Germany, etc. ; and although many 

 people are under the impression that 

 Hyacinths could be raised as well 

 and as easily in parts of the British 

 Islands as in Holland, the fact 

 remains that they are not — at least 

 not on commercial lines. 



Hyacinths are easily grown in the 

 open air in most parts of the British 

 Islands, and are to be found in the 

 large gardens of the rich as well as 

 in the backyards of the poor ; while 

 public parks and gardens vie with 

 each other to secure a thrilling dis- 

 play of colour in spring. 



To secure the best results the soil 

 should be of a sandy or gritty nature, 

 well enriched with old cow-manure 

 or well-rotted stable manure, or fail- 

 ing these plenty of leaf-mould. A 

 wet, heavy soil is not desirable, but 

 can be improved in drainage and 

 temperature by trenching, and the 

 addition of plenty of sand and 

 manure. 



The best time for planting the 

 bulbs is from the end of September 

 till early November. They should 

 be placed from 4 to 6 ins. deep in the 

 soil, and from 6 to 8 ins. apart, and 

 if a handful of coarse silver sand is 



placed beneath each so much the 

 better, especially in heavy soils. As 

 there are many varieties, it is better 

 when planting formal beds — whether 

 round, square, rectangular, or elliptic 

 — to keep each variety separate; 

 mixing them up would lead to a 

 disorderly appearance at the flowering 

 season. 



In severe winters the beds may be 

 covered lightly with fine leaf -mould 

 or coco-nut fibre as a protection 

 against frost. When the flowers 

 have passed their best the stems 

 should be cut off, and when the leaves 

 show signs of yellowing (some time 

 in June) the bulbs may be lifted, 

 dried and cleaned, and stored away 

 in cool, airy places until the following 

 October. Any offsets may be de- 

 tached and planted in a special place 

 by themselves, covering them with 

 about twice their own diameter of soil. 



If seeds are desired, of course 

 the pods must be allowed to 

 thoroughly ripen. The seeds may 

 then be sown in fine sandy soil in 

 shallow boxes or pans, in which they 

 soon sprout. The young plants are 

 grown on from season to season until 

 the bulbs reach the flowering stage, 

 perhaps at the end of from four to 

 six or seven years. 



By slitting the mature old bulbs of 

 Hyacinths from the base upwards 

 small bulb-like growths soon begin 

 to develop in the slits when the coagu- 

 lated sap has formed a callus. These 

 bulblets are removed and planted 

 in beds by themselves, and at the end 

 of the ^rst year's growth they form 

 small bulbs. They are cultivated in 

 this way in rich sandy soU for three 

 or four years, at the end of which time 

 they will have reached the flowering 

 size and become a marketable article. 

 See Figs. 20, 21, 22, p. 21. Fig. 183 

 shows a Hyacinth bulb giving rise to 

 ofisets from the base. 



280 



