vu.] 



LIST OF FLOWERS. 



289 



thick^ and in a fortnight they will be in a fit state to be cleared 

 of dirt^ dead leaves and offsets, and to be put by in a dry but airy 

 place, where they remain till the autumn. The composts used in 

 flowering bulbous roots are, either, 1, One half heMth-mould, a 

 fourth part river sand, and a fourth part well-rotted cow-dung ; 

 or, 2, Two thirds sand, and one third well-consumed leaves ; or, 3, 

 One third river sand, one third fresh earth, one fourth rotten 

 cow-dung, and the rest leaf-mould. These must be prepared a 

 twelvemonth before they are used; kept in the air, and frequently 

 turned, or it is impossible that the different materials should be 

 properly incorporated one with the other. To procure fresh varie- 

 ties, sow well-ripened seed from a strong, handsome, and semi- 

 double plant. Choose a well-protected place, make a nice bed of 

 good compost, and sow in drills five inches apart, in the month of 

 September. In the severe frosts, cover over the young plants, 

 and keep grass and weeds from growing amongst them. Cover 

 with clean straw, or thatch. When, in the following summer, the 

 plants die down, hoe between them and give them an inch or so 

 thick of covering of your compost ; and protect them again the 

 next winter. Same treatment for the following summer, and 

 then, in the fourth, they may be taken up and treated as plants 

 for flowering. — In water-glasses, the hyacinth makes a very agree- 

 able show in the house during the most dismal part of the winter. 

 Get blue glasses, as more congenial to the roots than white ones^ 

 fill them mth rain water, with a few grains of salt in each, and 

 put in enough water to come up to the bulb about the fourth part of 

 an inch. Change the water carefully every week, and place the 

 plants in the lightest and most airy part of the room, or green- 

 house, in which you keep them. Plant hyacinths in the flower- 

 borders in the manner directed for tulips. 



506. HEPATICA, anemone, or noble liver-wort. — Lat. Ane- 

 mone hepatica. A perennial plant, which is found in great abun- 

 dance near Castelane and De Grasse, and in shady places in the 

 southern provinces of France. The flower is blue, violet, red, or 

 white, and appears in February and March, and, sometimes, in 

 January. Propagated by dividing the roots and by sowing the 

 seeds. It likes earth that is light, rich, and warm, and rather 

 dry than moist. 



507. IPOMEA, scarlet-flowered. — Lat. Ipomea coccinea. A 

 West India plant ; annual, and a climber. It grows to the height 



u 



