KItEPS ON HYACINTHS. 527 



four inches deep, is with us preferred to too mild a winter, or 

 to the inconvenience sustained by too much covering. Those 

 who have collections of great value, tie up the stalks to small 

 sticks, and put on an awning, so as to throw a shade over them 

 during the greatest heat of the sun, thereby preserving the beau- 

 ty of the flower, more especially those which are of a deep red 

 colour. But, at the same time, they have the precaution not 

 to extend the awning over the whole bed, and only to use it 

 at all from 9 or 10 o'clock in the morning to 5 or 6 in the 

 evening ; because whatever contributes to increase the growth 

 of the stalk and leaves, weakens the bulb, and renders it poor 

 and small. 



Of taking them up. — The time for taking them up, is 

 when the leaves have lost their verdure and begin to wither. 

 If your garden is very much elevated, you may indeed wait 

 till they are entirely dry and withered ; but then you must 

 be certain you have nothing to fear from the humidity of 

 your ground. The general custom with the Dutch florists is 

 to put them in the earth again, as soon as they have stripped 

 them of their leaves, and they practise the following method. 

 After having taken up the bulbs, they make the beds quite 

 even ; then, cutting off' the leaves, but not too close, and 

 leaving the roots, they lay the bulbs on their side in regu- 

 lar rows, so that they just touch, taking care to lay them 

 in a full south aspect ; there they cover them with fine earth, 

 about one inch thick, which raises them three or four inches 

 above the surface of the beds. In this situation they remain 

 three weeks, taking care to remove or rather renew the mould 

 from time to time, that may be or is blown away by the 

 wind. About the end of this period, they take up the bulbs, 

 clean them, and take off the offsets, and place them on their 

 proper shelves. This method is highly useful, and very fa- 

 vourable to their evaporation. It renders the bulbs very dry 

 and compact, consequently more adapted for carriage ; it 

 likewise prevents their being mouldy and their putrefying. 



The above method is alone practicable in a soil that is light 

 and dry, and that has been well turned. Where the soil is 

 strong, deep, and moist, it would be very dangerous to fol- 

 low this method, and you might, by so doing, totally lose all 

 your bulbs. 



Those who possess the favourable soil above mentioned, 

 may take up their bulbs as soon as the leaves begin to grow 



