56 DUTCH BULBS AND GARDENS 



eighteenth £25 was thought extravagant, even for 

 a choice florist's variety. According to a writer in 

 1796, the price of ordinary bulbs then varied from 

 3d. apiece to, in rare cases, as much as £10. A 

 fairly wide range, and one that is not so very dis- 

 similar from that of the present time, though it is 

 probable we now have a greater selection at 3d. and 

 a smaller at £10. 



Hyacinths in the bulb gardens of Holland are 

 planted in September in very heavily manured 

 ground. In the winter they have to be protected 

 by a thick covering of straw, more, indeed, than is 

 given to any bulbs except some of the lily family, 

 usually from four to five inches in thickness. This 

 is taken off in spring, when the crowns appear ; it 

 is essential that they should not be kept covered 

 too long or too closely in mild weather, or the pre- 

 maturely developed shoots will be too tender to 

 stand the night frosts of early spring. Hyacinths 

 are subject to some few diseases ; one of them 

 necessitates the removal of a suspected bulb from 

 among its neighbours. Sometimes one may see a 

 procession of men going forth to the hyacinth fields, 

 each armed with a long narrow tool, in shape a 

 little like the instrument used for cutting asparagus 

 in Belgium ; and also, if the weather is sunny, each 



