158 



PRACTICE OF GARDENING. 



of planting. At the time of taking up the bulbs, all 

 offsets should be separated, and these should not be 

 planted with the old bulbs in the autumn, but should be 

 placed in some retired part of the garden by themselves, 

 where they can be well exposed to the sun. If they mani- 

 fest any disposition to flower the first year, this should be 

 duly checked, and they wdll be in a proper state for 

 flowering in the second season. Hyacinths, if growm out 

 of doors, should have a much more sandy soil, with a mix- 

 ture of leaf mould, well decayed. The beds, as with tuUps, 

 should be slightly raised, and particularly well-drained. 



Although many hyacinths will flower well according to 

 the treatment thus detailed, they will also be very inte- 

 resting ornaments to the sitting-room, if planted in pots, 

 or kept in water-glasses. If hyacinths are planted in pots, 

 the soil used should be a light sandy loam wdth a slight 

 addition of well-rotted manure, and the bulbs should be 

 planted so as to allow the upper part to stand above the 

 level of the soil. An excellent method of accelerating 

 their flowering, is to plunge the pots containing them into 

 the ground, and cover them with about six inches of old 

 bark, leaf soil, or other light material, in which situation 

 they will come into flower much sooner, and the flowers 

 will likewise be better, than if they had been left exposed. 

 As soon as they appear above the surface of the material 

 used, they may be removed to the window of a dwelling- 

 room, where, if they are kept as near as possible to the 

 light and liberally supplied with water, they w^ill flovrer 

 beautifully. If they are not frequently turned round, how^- 

 ever, so as to present every part in succession to the 

 light, they will grow one-sided and deformed. It may here 

 be remarked, that the choicer species of Narcissus, if 

 treated in the same manner, will have an equally inter- 

 esting appearance, and flower in as great perfection. 



With respect to the management of hyacinths in water- 

 glasses, it is likewise better to plant the bulbs in some 

 very light soil, such as leaf-mould, and w^hen they have 

 commenced growing, to remove them to the glasses, taking 

 care not to injure the roots. The glasses should invariably 

 be of a dark colour, and the water in them should be 

 occasionally changed. They should also be kept as near as 



