HYACINTH CULTURE AT HAARLEM 131 



putting forth seven or eight from its centre. The outer 

 tunics, which we call " red skin," regularly shrivel and decay 

 in the earth, and thus they disappear. 



The central (fans) or young tunics, when they turn into 

 leaves, do the work of an air-pump ; they are the lungs by 

 which the plant lives ; they dilate in heat and contract in 

 cold. When dilated they take in the air, with all with 

 which it is impregnated, and they give it out again with the 

 regularity that an animal breathes through its lungs. 



Plants do not like the shade of trees ; they need open air 

 and sunshine, and they like places where they catch the dew 

 and rain and mist ; the moisture thus obtained through their 

 leaves is better for them than water poured upon them from 

 a watering-pot. 



Planted in hot-houses or under glass they do without 

 much water, because the hot air produces vapour by the 

 sun's rays from above or from the fire beneath, and it is 

 necessary to introduce a little air in order to let it evaporate 

 (but the plants must not be chilled by cold seizing them in 

 the process). Hyacinths which are protected by planks 

 sometimes do better than those under glass. 



The planks are lifted and the plants find themselves 

 exposed to the open air, this is only done when the air is 

 not likely to injure them. To be kept constantly under 

 glass or in a room sometimes affects their colour and shape. 

 It also spoils their colour to be exposed to heavy rain or 

 a very hot sun, which exhausts them. The leaves (as the 

 leaves of a tree) turn on their pedicels one side to the 

 earth, for one surface of the leaf sucks in moisture and the 

 other gives it out. What they receive through the upper 

 surface by day they give out through their under surface at 

 night by a process of evaporation. 



When the bulbs are planted the leaves (or fans) are 

 already pushing forth a green shoot. The gardener does 



