March. from Injuries. 
- Pi..23.° 
Pig. 2, 
_this Plant ; 
ftand us at the fetting out. He would be ftrangely 
. Hyacinth. 
OF GARDENING 
The Spring following, this Head 
of the Stock muft be cut off clean to the Place 
cover it. 
Oo PBR UV PAN COBY ACIN TE 
*Tis in Compliance with old Cuftom that we 
preferve here the Name Peruvian Hyacinth to 
and that the Gardener may under- 
furpriz’d to find us at once calling it by that 
Name which we are now to acquaint him properly 
belongs to the Plant, this is The Conic flowering Squil. 
Linnavus has juftly feparated the Plants 
call’d Starry Hyacinths, from the common Kind 
known under that Name; and however bold it 
may to the unexperienced Eye appear in him, to 
have refer’d thefe all to the Sgui/ Kind, he has 
the Authority of evident Nature, and has done it 
with perfect Juftice. 3 
The common Writers call this Species, after Bau- 
HINE, Hyacinthus Indicus bulbofus feellatus; or, after 
Crusius, Hyacinthus. fiellatus Peruvianus.. ‘This 
Name, fhorten’d of its Epithet in Tranflation, 
has given the Englifo Gardener his Term Peruvian 
Linn us, very correct and diftinG@tive in his 
Names of Species, calls this Scilla radice folida 
corymbo conferto conico: Solid-rooted Scilla, with 
a clufter’d conic Tuft of Flowers. 
The Root is large, oblong, firm, and weighty, 
cover’d with a’ brown Bark, and fending out, 
from a prominent Bafe, many thick Fibres. 
The Leaves are very confpicuous, tho’ not 
more than four or five in Number: they are 
fix or eight Inches long, confiderably broad, hol- 
low’d, obtufe, and of a fine green. 
The Stalk is thick, juicy, and of a pale green. 
At the Top it forms a large Head, by fending 
out a Multitude of fine flender Footftalks. ‘Thefe 
are of a deep purplifh Hue; and as they are 
longeft in the lower Part of the Clufter, and 
fhorter toward the Top, the whole Tuft is regu- 
gularly of a conic Figure, thick, fhort, broad at. 
the Bafe, and pointed. 
The Flowers are extremely elegant in them- 
felves, and this vaft Tuft of them makes a moft 
fplendid Appearance. One terminates each of 
thefe Footftalks. The Size is confiderable, the 
Form ftarry, and the Colour a celeftial blue. 
There is a Variety of the Plant in which they 
are white, and fometimes flefhy, or tinctur’d with 
a pale Crimfon; but thefe, tho’ beautiful, are 
far below the elegant and perfect blue which is 
the natural Colour. 
In fome well cultivated Plants there is a Glow 
of purple with the blue, which is extremely 
beautiful, The various Mixture of the red, 
vives the violet Tin& to fome, and to others a 
true purple: in all thefe Colours the Plant is of 
extreme Beauty. 
As the Shortnefs of the Footftalks at firft, in the 
upper Part of the Clufter, is owing only to their being 
| will fwell into a kind of rounded Umbell 
this has been unobferv’d ; 
not fo full grown as thofe below, the Continuance 
of the conic Figure of the Tuft depends upon the 
Manner of Flowering. © 
In the ufual Way of managing the Plant, 
too much Sun prevents the perfect Opening of 
the upper Flowers; and the Tuft keeps, ‘through- 
out the fhort Time of the Bloom, its original 
conic Form: but we fhall direé& the Gardenet to 
manage it fo that the whole Number may open 
in Succeffion ; and in this Way the flowering of 
one Plant will continue a Month; and as the 
upper Flowers difplay themfelves, the conic Form. 
> and 
the Gardener’s Art fhall fet afide one Term in the 
Linnaan Name, dependent only on imperfect 
Management. 
The Flower is compos’d of fix Petals; thefe 
-are of an oval Form, fharp-pointed, and dif- 
play’d as the Rays in a painted sar 
naked from the Footftalk. 
In the Centre ftand fix Filaments, finaller up- 
wards, fhort, and crown’d with oblong incum- 
bent Buttons. In the Midft of thefe rifes a fingle 
Style from the rounded Rudiment of a Seed- 
veffel, which when ripen’d, becomes oval, with 
three Furrows, and contains, in fo many Cells, | 
numerous roundifh Seeds. 
No Plant more obvioufly fhews its proper Clafs : 
it is one of the Hexandria Monogynia of Linn aus. 
It rifes 
Culture of the Starry Hyacintu. 
The Name Peruvian given at firft univerfally 
fought in that remote Part of America; but it 
was foon found nearer home. , 
Cuusius, and the others of his Time, receiv’d 
Notice from Bortius, that the Salt-Marfhes and 
Meadows near the Openings of Rivers in Spain 
and Portugal abounded with it, in full Luftre. 
Its Soil there is a black rich Mould, tender 
and moift, and a little impregnated with Sea 
Salt. This gives the true Rule for its Culture: 
and therefore the 
Plant has feldom in our Gardens, however much 
admir’d, arriv’d at its full Beauty. 
The many propagate it from Off-fets ; but to the 
Gardener who defires to excel his Cotemporaries, 
the Method is from Seeds, and we fhall direé&t him 
how to follow this Courfe fuccefsfully. In either 
Cafe, the Compoft muft be the fame: and let it 
be prepar’d in Time in the following Manner: 
Mix equal Parts of the richeft black Mould 
from under the Turf in a Meadow, and pure 
River-Mud : add to a Load of thefe two Buthels 
of old Cow-dung, and two Gallons of Sra 
WatTER. 
Mix the Ingredients well together, and throw 
them 
S Meike a 
“AR ' - : | : ) ie : . 
of the Bud, and the Head from that Time will ‘March, 
Le 
to this Plant, led People to believe it muft be | 
