812 



OPEN FLOWER-GARDEN. 



description are either starvation or rank poison 

 to it, it dwindling year after year, until it totally 

 disappears. The roots also soon exhibit signs 

 of canker and decay when planted in a damp 

 soil. 



Planting. — The bed being prepared by being 

 trenched over a month previously, the surface 

 should be forked over and made uniform, rising 

 a little towards the centre. The planting should 

 commence the first week in October; some delay 

 till the middle of November : we prefer the for- 

 mer period in late climates and cold situations ; 

 the latter is, however, a better time in such as 

 are differently situated. The danger of too early 

 planting is, that the bulbs would become excited 

 too early, and push through the soil, and be 

 liable to injury during the frosts of winter. On 

 no account, however, should the operation be 

 deferred later than November, as the bulbs 

 would suffer from their natural tendency to 

 vegetate at their proper season. The breadth 

 of the bed should be not less than 4 feet, which 

 will accommodate six rows across. In planting, 

 a little clean silvery sand should be placed 

 under each, and likewise upon the roots, to pre- 

 vent the compost adhering too closely. Set the 

 bulbs from 3 to 4 inches in the soil, according to 

 their size. The writer in the "Florist" above 

 quoted, says : " As in a show-bed it is very im- 

 portant to have all the colours in bloom at 

 once, and as this is no easy matter, requiring 

 not only a general knowledge of their times of 

 flowering, but a particular knowledge of each 

 variety, it may be as well to know how the 

 Dutch apply this knowledge to compel them to 

 uniformity. This is by planting the latest 

 bloomers deepest ; and my impression is, that 

 the difference between the greatest and least 

 depth is as much as a foot ; and, as a general 

 rule, I can myself answer for its being very 

 decidedly thus : that the blue are the earliest in 

 flower, and the deepest in colour the first, the 

 red next, the white third, and the yellow last." 



Taking up the bulbs. — When the foliage begins 

 to assume a yellowish dried-up appearance, it 

 is pretty evident the growing season has passed. 

 As soon as the flowers have faded, the flower- 

 stalks should be cut off close to the base, but 

 the foliage should be allowed to continue un- 

 disturbed until they assume the yellow colour 

 above referred to, at which time the bulbs 

 should be carefully dug up, when the foliage 

 should be cut off close to the crown of the bulb, 

 but the fibres should for the present be left 

 attached to them. Many of the Haarlem 

 growers, however, on digging up their bulbs, 

 lay them on their sides on the surface of the 

 bed, and cover the fibres with soil, leaving 

 them for a fortnight or three weeks with the de- 

 caying leaves attached. In this way they dry 

 gradually, and have the protection of the awn- 

 ing, used while in bloom, to keep them dry and 

 shaded from the too drying effects of the sun. 

 At the end of this time they remove the leaves 

 entirely, and rub off the now dry and useless 

 fibres, when they are placed in a dry place, well 

 ventilated, and afterwards cleared of the loose 

 skin and offsets, which must be gently rubbed 

 off, but no force used ; they are then wrapped 



in paper individually, to be ready for sale, 

 and such as are reserved for own planting are 

 buried in dry sand, where they remain till the 

 planting season returns. The Dutch attach, 

 and very properly, great importance to the 

 ripening and drying of their bulbs ; for, unless 

 this is accomplished, they cannot be expected to 

 flower well the following season. 



" We often plume ourselves," Mr Beaton re- 

 marks in " Cottage Gardener," " on our skilful 

 management of forced bulbs in pots, because we 

 seldom fail of having them very fine the first 

 season." Our failures in succeeding years he at- 

 tributes to the proper cause, namely, we " over- 

 look or neglect the proper treatment of these 

 bulbs, by cutting off their leaves to make room 

 for other things, or by removing them carelessly 

 from the flower-beds and borders to the reserve 

 ground, just at the very time when the necessary 

 supply of matter for giving a fine bloom the 

 following year is being stored in the bulbs 

 through the agency of the leaves. This explana- 

 tion reveals the fact — for a fact, and a great fact, 

 it certainly is — that the bloom of this spring 

 was not altogether due to the care we might 

 have taken of the roots or bulbs since we potted 

 them last autumn, but rather to the care that 

 was taken of the leaves last May and June. If it 

 were not so, we could not bloom them so fine in 

 moss and in water-glasses as in a good compost. 

 Therefore it stands to reason, that if we wish for 

 good crops of flowers from spring bulbs next 

 year, we must ripen off their leaves with great 

 care now (May), and this is the proper time to 

 give liquid manure to such bulbs." 



General culture. — Bulbs that are allowed to 

 produce seed are greatly weakened thereby; and 

 hence the practice of cutting off, or, .better, 

 breaking off the flower stems as soon as the 

 flower fades, is important, by lessening the 

 draught made upon the plant by its efforts to 

 produce seed. Breaking them off is better 

 than cutting, because the fractured part does 

 not bleed or lose its sap so readily. Bulbs 

 which have been forced do flower again, after 

 a proper period of rest and renewal of their 

 strength. This is not, however, a general prac- 

 tice, but may, under proper conditions, be done 

 with advantage. These conditions are, that 

 the bulbs be allowed to remain in the ground 

 undisturbed for two, and sometimes three years. 



Those who intend to grow the hyacinth in 

 perfection should have a portable framed roof 

 placed over their bed, and covered with canvass 

 to exclude frost and rain, and shaded with gauze 

 netting while in flower during the intense heat 

 of the sun. Some florists do not take up their 

 roots annually, and by merely top-dressing their 

 beds secure a brilliant display of bloom. It 

 seems at first sight unnatural that the bulb 

 should be taken out of the ground and kept in 

 a dry state, if even for however short a period ; 

 but it should also be considered that high-bred 

 hyacinths are far more delicate than those of 

 their kind growing in their native country, and 

 also, from their disposition to form numerous 

 offsets round their roots, that it is expedient to 

 lift them, were it for no other purpose than their 

 removal, as, if left on, they would, to a very 



