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and fifty florins, (g 60,) and the highest priced Lily three hundred 

 florins, (g 120.) Tulips are divided into early and late blowers ; 

 the fornier begin blooming about the 15th of April, and are followed 

 hy the latter kinds in succession until the end of May; the late 

 kinds produce the largest flowers, the stems of which are generally 

 from twenty to thirty inches, in heiglit. 



HYACINTHS — Hyacinthus orientalis. 



This favourite flower,. which, with its great beauty, combines 

 also the most exquisite fragrance, has been cultivated in Holland 

 to an equal extent with the Tulip, and 1,300 varieties are found 

 in the gardens of that country. The first double Hyacinth known 

 in Holland was raised from seed about the end of the seventeenth 

 century, by Peter Voorhelm, from which all the fine double varieties 

 we now possess may be traced. So great was the value of a fine 

 double Hyacinth formerly in Holland, that from two to ten thou- 

 sand florins were given for a single root j and Mr. Dutens mentions, 

 that in his travels, in that country, 1771, he saw ten thousand 

 florins (g 4,000) refused for a single Bulb. So extensive has their 

 cultivation, however, now become, that many acres are occupied 

 by individuals solely for that purpose, and many hundred thousand 

 roots are annually exported to other countries ; and the prices have 

 been so reduced, that no Hyacinths are now sold at more than one 

 hundred florins each, and few higher than from two to five guineas, 

 and by far the greater number at mu<^h less rates* Single Hyacinths 

 are held in less estimation than double ones; their colours, how- 

 ever, are more viTid, and their bells, though smaller, are more 

 numerous; they are preferable for flowering in winter to most of 

 the double ones> as they bloom two ^r three weeks earlier. 



It has been supposed by many that Hyacinths, Tulips, and other 

 Bulbous Flowers, aradlflicult of culture, and that our country being 

 Unfavourable to their growth, they would dwindle and decline after 

 & few years' cultivation. This is altogether a mistaken impression 5 

 and, if it ever occurs, must be owing to improper treatment, as no. 

 country in the world possesses a climate more congenial to the 

 culture of Bulbous Flowers than the middle states ; for tlie dis- 

 advantages of great fogs and a humid atmosphere, which are so 

 much complained of by the Dutch as appertaining to their climate, 

 do not at all exist in our's. The great ascendency which Holland 

 has ever held in the culture of Bulbous Flowers, is the result of its 

 soil, which is of peculiar formation, being a combination of marine 

 sand made fresh by cultivation and bog mould ; the proper means, 

 therefore, to succeed equally in their culture, is to form a soil as 

 near as possible of the same component parts, which is by no means 

 a difliculty task. And, in fact, after all that has been said and 

 written on the particular cultivation of Bulbous Roots, we often 

 see the finest flowers in gardens where little or no attention is 

 paid to them; and, perhaps, there is no class of plants which 

 affords us so many delights, and so richly repays us for each little 

 care bestowed on them. 



The collections of Bulbous Flowers has been so greatly extended 

 within these several years past, by a careful and scrutinizing seiec«- 



