hyaci'nthus. 146 hyaci'nthus. 



after which their flowers will become 

 every year weaker and weaker, till at 

 last the plants are not worth the room 

 they take up in the border. If it is 

 wished to preserve the roots in a vi- 

 gorous state, they ought to be taken 

 up after flowering when the leaves 

 have faded, and kept in a dry airy 

 shed, with the neck of the bulb turned 

 down ; and then planted in a properly 

 prepared bed in autumn, where, after 

 remaining two years, tbey will have 

 recovered their vigour, and be fit to 

 plant again in tlie border. Planting 

 Hyacinths in miscellaneous borders is 

 the most convenient mode for ama- 

 teurs, and in general it produces the 

 most agreeable effect in a private gar- 

 den, for beds of Hyacinths have more 

 the appearance of being cultivated for 

 sale by a florist, though it must be 

 confessed that stronger flowers are 

 produced in this way, and the effect, 

 considered by itself, is far more splen- 

 did. 



Beds of Hyacinths. — The most 

 convenient width is five feet ; and the 

 length may be greater or less, at plea- 

 sure. Five feet in width will admit 

 of four rows for the four colours of 

 red, white, blue, and yellow; which 

 should be six inches apart between the 

 rows, and the bulbs may be placed at 

 the same distance from each other in 

 the row. The arrangement of the 

 colours may be according to fancy, but 

 the common mode is never to have 

 two of a colour together. To prepare 

 the bed, dig out the soil to the depth 

 of three feet , and fill it up to one foot 

 above the surface with very sandy 

 loam mixed with leaf mould, cow- 

 dung, or hotbed dung, thoroughly rot- 

 ten. This may be done in Septem- 

 ber ; and in October six inches of the 

 soil may be removed, and the bulbs 

 planted ; after which the soil must be 

 replaced. To protect the bulbs from 

 too much wet during the winter, the 

 surface of the bed should be gently 



sloped to each side ; and during rainy 

 weather it may be covered with reeda 

 or thatch, in such a manner as to 

 throw off the rain. Thus treated, 

 the plants will bloom with great vi- 

 gour ; and to have the colours in the 

 greater perfection, the bed ought to 

 be covered in the flowering season 

 with a tent or awning. But for ama- 

 teurs the most convenient mode is, 

 to form the bed of such a size as to 

 be contained either in a common cu- 

 cumber-frame with glass sashes, which 

 may be put on during heavy rains, 

 and also during sunshine ; tilting them 

 at both ends to admit a free circula- 

 tion of air, and covering the glass with 

 mats to exclude the sun. Care must 

 be taken to remove the glasses entirely 

 during cloudy weather, in order not to 

 draw up the plants ; and, for the same 

 reason, to take them off every night 

 when the weather is dry. A common 

 cucumber-frame, of twelve feet long 

 and four feet wide, will contain a very 

 handsome collection of Hyacinths ; 

 which may thus be grown to the 

 highest degree of perfection, and pro- 

 tected from every exterior injury. As 

 soon as the plants have done flower- 

 ing, the frame and glasses may be re- 

 moved ; and when the leaves have 

 become yellowish, the bulbs may be 

 taken up, and each kind kept by itself, 

 and placed in an airy situation in the 

 shade till they are quite dry. After 

 this they should be cleansed from any 

 soil that may stick to them, and the 

 fibrous roots, which will have withered 

 up, should be rubbed off. The bulbs 

 should then be laid on a shelf of lat- 

 tice-work with the neck of the bulb 

 downwards, or placed in shallow 

 wicket baskets, and hung up in an airy 

 shed or room till wanted for use. If 

 decay or canker make their appear- 

 ance, the parts injured, if small, 

 should becut out and thebulb laid aside 

 to dry ; but if the parts injured extend 

 far, the bulb should be thrown away 



