Book II. 



HYACINTH. 



829 



century, the greatest attention was paid at Haerlem to raising new sorts of double flowers ; and as much 

 as 200/. has been known to be given for a root : but, since that period, the taste for this and other bulbous 

 flowers has considerably declined, and at present there are few sorts for which more than 10/. are asked ; 

 the general price being from one to ten shillings a bulb for the varied sorts, and what are called the com- 

 mon mixtures are sold at from 11. to 3/. a liundred. A variety degenerates, under bad treatment, in two 

 or three years ; but in Holland some have been preserved nearly a century. 



6224. Criterion of a fine double hyacinth. ( fig. 589. a) " The stem should be strong, tall, and erect, sup- 

 porting numerous large bells, each suspended by a short and strong peduncle, or foot-stalk, in a horizontal 

 position, so that the whole may have a compact, pyramidal form, with the crown, or uppermost flower, 

 perfectly erect. The flowers should be large, and perfectly double, i. e. well filled with broad bold petals, 

 appearing to the eye rather convex than flat or hollow ; they should occupy about one half the length of 

 the stem. The colors should be clear and bright, whether plain, red, white, or blue, or variously inter- 

 mixed and diversified in the eye ; the latter, it must be confessed, gives additional lustre and elegance to 

 this beautiful flower. Strong bright colors are, in general, preferred to such as are pale." 



6225. - Propagation. By seed for new varieties ; and by ofFset-bulbs for continuing 

 approved sorts. 



6226. By seed. " The seed should be saved from such sorts as have strong and straight stems, and a 

 regular well formed pyramid of bells, not perfectly single, but rather semi-double. It should not be 

 gathered till it has become perfectly black and ripe, at which time the pericarpium will appear yellow 

 on the outside, and will begin to open. The stem, with which the seed is connected, is then to be cut oflP^ 

 and placed in a dry, airy, cool situation, where it may remain undisturbed till the time of sowing, which 

 is the latter end of October, or beginning of March : it should then be sown about half an inch below the 

 surface of the soil, in a deep box, filled with good sound garden-mould, mixed with sand, or the hyacinth 

 compost, which should be afterwards placed in a warm situation during winter. It will never require 

 to be watered, or have any other attention paid to it than to keep it free from weeds and frost, till it has 

 remained in this state two years ; it must then, on the approach of winter, have an additional stratum of 

 the compost placed upon it, about half an inch thick ; and at the third year, in the month of July, the 

 roots may be taken up, dried, and treated in the same manner as large bulbs or offsets : some of the roots 

 will flower the fourth year, one half of them will at the fifth, but by the sixth year, every healthy root 

 v/ill exhibit its bloom, and then the hopes and expectations of the cultivator will be realised or disap- 

 pointed. He may think himself fortunate, if one half of the plants that first appeared, are in existence 

 at this period ; and if he can at last find one flower in five hundred deserving a name or place in a curious 

 collection, he may rest perfectly content, and be assured that he has fared as well as could reasonably be 

 expected, and better than many who have bestowed equal attention on the subject." {Maddock.) 



6227. By offsets. These may be planted in the beginning of October, or soon after they have been 

 separated from the parent bulbs. Plant them in an open part of the garden, in rows about two inches 

 deep, upon a bed raised six or eight inches above the common level, consisting of a sandy soil, pulverised, 

 eighteen inches deep ; the surface of the bed should be made rather convex or rounding, so as to throw 

 off heavy rains ; no further attention is necessary, except to stir the surface of the bed occasionally, keep 

 it free from weeds, and preserve it from very severe frost. The proper time to take them up is the 

 same as for large roots. Offsets, if preserved in health, will bloom weakly the second year; but by the 

 third tolerably strong, and may afterwards be placed on the best bed. 



6228. Choice of full-grown roots. " Such roots as have attained the age of four or five years, bloom 

 stronger in this country than any other ; they afterwards gradually decline, either by dividing into offsets, 

 or diminishing in size and strength : but in Holland, owing to the, peculiar circumstances of the soil, 

 climate, situation, &c. the same bulb has been known to produce blossoms twelve or thirteen times, nor is 

 it ever known to die merely with age." 



6229. Soil and site. " The bed on which they are to be planted should be situated in rather a dry 

 and airy part of the garden ; a southern aspect is to be preferred, sheltered on the north and east. When 

 the situation is determined on, the dimensions of the bed should be marked out, and the soil entirely taken 

 away to the depth of at least two feet ; the earth in the bottom must then be dug up and pulverised, one 

 spit or nine inches deeper, and the space above filled up with a compost consisting of one third coarse 

 sea or river sand ; one third fresh sound earth ; one fourth rotten cow-dung, at least two years old ; arid 

 earth of decayed leaves for the remainder. These ingredients are to be well mixed and incorporated, 

 and about a fortnight previous to planting, the bed should be filled up with the compost to about four 

 inches above the level of the path on the south or front side, and ten inches on the north side, so 

 as to form a regular slope or inclination towards the sun." 



6230. In the Butch Florist of Nicholas Van Kampen and sons, florists at Haerlem {Haerlem 1760, and 

 Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 1763), sandy earth is said to form the basis of the culture of the hyacinth. It 

 ought to be of a bluish-grey or blackish-red color, not sharp, but rather handling smooth, a little greasy, 

 and taking a pearl color when dry ; the water passing through it being sweet and of a delicate taste. The 

 best method of enriching sandy earth, according to their experience, " is to make use of cow-dung, rotted 

 leaves of trees, and tanners' bark ; but the bark ought not to be taken fresh out of the pits, but laid up 

 for two years at least, that it may be well rotted and consumed to one half : — Our method, then, of mak- 

 ing compost for hyacinths is as follows : Two sixth parts of grey sand ; two sixths of well rotted cow- 

 dung ; one sixth of tanners' bark, quite rotted and reduced to earth ; one sixth of tree-leaves, also well 

 rotted. All these materials must be thrown into a heap, not more than three feet thick, so that the rays 

 of the sun may have power to penetrate through it, and warm it to the bottom ; for which purpose the 

 heap must be laid in a high and open place exposed to the south. Once a month it ought to be carefully 

 turned, and the bottom thrown to the top, that all parts of it may partake of the benign influence of the 

 sun and elements : this is essential ; and this turning must be continued for twelve months, taking care 

 not to sift the compost, because, in that case, it is apt to run into lumps, which would be of dangerous 

 consequence." (Quot. by Neill, in Hort. Tour, 536.) 



6231. In St. Simon's work, entitled Des Jacintes (Amst. 1768, 4to.), in which the Dutch mode of cul- 

 tivating the hyacinth is fully detailed, the compost used at Haerlem is said to be rotten cow-dung, rotten 

 leaves, and fine sand. The leaves of elm, lime, and birch are preferred to those of oak, chestnut, walnut, 

 beech, plane, &c. which do not rot so quickly. The cow-dung is collected in winter from cattle, stall-fed 

 upon dry food, without any mixture of straw or other litter. The leaves, when decayed and fit for use, 

 are thus mixed with the other materials : " First, they place a layer of sand, then one of dung, and 

 then one of rotten leaves, each being eight or ten inches thick. These layers are repeated till the heap is 

 six or seven feet high, a layer of dung being uppermost, sprinkled over with a little sand to prevent the 

 too powerful action of the sun upon it. After the heap has lain thus for six months or more, it is mixed, 

 and thrown up afresh, in which state it remains some weeks to settle before it is carried into the flower- 

 beds. This compost retains its qualities about six or seven years ; but the Dutch avoid setting hyacinths 

 in it two years successively ; in the alternate years they plant tulips, jonquils, narcissuses, crocuses, irises, &c. 

 in the same beds ; nor do they venture to set hyacinths in the compost the first season, when, the fresh 

 manure might be injurious to them." {Herbert, in Hort. Trans, vol. iv. 165.) 



6232. Planting. This should take place " from the middle of October to the middle of November ; if it 

 is done earlier the plants will appear above ground in the middle of winter; or if it is deferred later, 

 the roots will be weakened by their natural tendency to vegetate. On planting the roots, the surface of 

 the bed should be covered with a little fresh sandy earth, about one inch thick, raked perfectly smooth 



