PETER HENDERSON & CO.— THE HYACINTH. 



THE HYACINTH. 



The following article from our Mr. Peter Henderson's recent work, the " Handbook of 



Plants" may be of interest to our readers, and will also give an idea of the 



scope of this valuable work, as all leading plants are referred to 



in the same practical manner : 



HyaointhuS. The Hyacinth. Linn. Ilexandri-Mono- 

 gynia Nat. Ord. Liliaceee. 



The Hyacinth is a native of the Levant, and was first in- 

 troduced into England in 1596, but it was known to 

 Dioscorides. who wrote about the time of Vespasian. 

 Gerarde, in his Berbal, published at the close of 

 the sixteenth century, enumerates four varieties, 

 the single and double blue, the purple, and the 

 violet. In that valuable old book on gardening 

 " Paradisi in Sole Paradisus temestris," published 

 by John Parkinson in 1629, there are mentioned and de- 

 scribed eight different varieties. He tells us ''some are pure 

 white; another is almost white, but having a show of 

 blueness, especially at the brims and bottoms of the 

 flowers; others again are of a very faint blush; some 

 are of as deep a purple as a violet; others of a purple 

 tending to redness, and some of a paler purple; some 

 again are of a fair blue; others more watchet, and 

 so pale a blue as if it were more white than blue. After 

 the Mowers are past, there rise up great three-square 

 heads, bearing round black seed, great and sh ning." Dur- 

 ing the two hundred and fifty years that have passed 

 since the above was penned, there has been a steady im- 

 provement in the size, form, and color of the flowers of 

 tins plant. From the eight varieties of 1629, more than 

 four thousand varieties have been produeed and cata- 

 logued, from which number upward of two hundred vari- 

 eties are subjects of extensive commerce. The Hyacinth 

 is a universal favorite in the most extended application of 

 the word. The number of its varieties is now fully equal 

 to that of any other florist's Bower. They are usually 

 grown for forcing into flower in the dull, cheerless months 

 of winter and early spring, when their delicately-colored 

 flowers and rich fragrance lend a charm not otherwise to 

 be found. They are equally desirable for planting in beds, 

 or in the garden border. For forcing, the bulbs should be 

 potted from the middle to i lie end of September in live-inch 

 pots in rich, light earth, and placed in a cold frame or 

 under a wall, where they can be covered with wooden 

 shutters, or some similar contrivance, to keep off heavy 

 rains; iu either case they should be covered a foot thick 

 with newly fallen leaves, and being once well watered 

 after potting, they may be left for a month to form their 

 roots, when the most forward should be brought out, and, 

 after re-potting into larger pots, according to the appar- 

 ent strength of the bulbs, should be placed in a gentle 

 heat. Some care is necessary in the application and in- 

 crease of this, or the flowers will be abortive; it should 

 not exceed 50° for the first three weeks, but afterward 

 may be increased gradually to 60° or 65°, and if the pots 

 are plunged into bottom heat the same careful increase 

 should be observed, or the points of the roots will infalli- 

 bly be killed. One-third the depth of the pot is fully suf- 

 ficient at first, and if the heat is brisk they should not be 

 plunged more than half way at any time. When the 

 flower stems have risen to nearly their full height, and 

 the lower flowers of the spike are beginning to expand, 

 the plants should be removed to a lower temperature, us- 

 ually afforded by the green-house, and when the flowers 



are fully expanded, the plants can be taken to the sitting- 

 room or wherever their presence is desired, observing to 

 protect them from sudden changes or cold draughts of 

 air. and the water given to them should be moderately 

 warm. Hyacinths in glasses are an elegant and appro- 

 priate ornament to the drawing-room, and for this pur- 

 pose occasion little trouble. The bulbs should be pro- 

 cured and placed in the glasses as early in the season as 

 possible, keeping them in the dark until their roots are 

 well started, after which the lightest position that can be 

 afforded is the best; the water in which they grow should 

 be changed twice or thrice a week, and in severe weather 

 the plants must be removed from the window, so as to 

 be secure from frost. For decorating the flower garden, 

 the bulbs should lie planted in October or the early part 

 of November, in light, rich soil, at a depth of four inches 

 from the crown of the bulb to the surface of the earth. 

 It may be necessary to place sticks to them when in 

 bloom, to prevent them being broken by the wind, and 

 this is all the attention they require till the foliage is 

 withered, and the season has arrived for taking them up. 

 when, instead of the usual practice of drying them at 

 once in the sun, we would advise the Dutch method to 

 be adopted, namely, to place them side by side on asuuny 

 spot of ground, and cover them with about an inch of 

 loose earth, to thoroughly ripen by the subdued heat im- 

 parted to the earth which surrounds them. Left in this 

 position for a fortnight, they will become dry and firm, 

 and an hour or two of sunshine will finish them properly 

 for storing. The multiplication and growth of Hyacinths 

 for sale is principally carried on out of doors in the vicin- 

 ity of Haarlem, in Holland. The sandy soil, and mois- 

 ture of both soil and climate in that country, are peculiar- 

 ly favorably to the growth of the Hyacinth. Hundreds 

 of acres are there devoted to the culture of these and 

 kindred plants, and the Haarlem gardens are a gay sight 

 from the early season of the year till far on in the sum- 

 mer. The process of multiplication is carried on by sow- 

 ing the seeds, or by taking offsets from the parent bulb. 

 By seeds new varieties only are obtained; it is by offsets 

 the already known and valued kinds are increased. The 

 bulbs are cut crosswise, and sprinkled with sand to ab- 

 sorb any superfluous moisture that may exude from the 

 incisions. After a time they arc planted in the earth, 

 when numerous small bulbs are formed on the edges of 

 these incisions. At the expiration of one season they 

 arc again lifted from the ground, and the numerous small 

 bulbs, still only partially developed, arc separated from 

 the parent root and planted out again and again, year 

 after year, for three or four years, before they become 

 flowering bulbs of line market quality. The white Roman 

 Hyacinth is largely used for forcing for winter flowers by 

 the florists of New York and all large cities. In New 

 York alone upward of five hundred thousand bulbs are 

 used during the winter, and the number is rapidly increasing 

 each year. The flower spikes average four cents each at 

 wholesale. By a succession of plantings, beginning iu 

 September, they are had in flower from November till May. 

 and even later — IJenderson's Handbook of Plants. 



