75 



HYACINTHUS ORIENTALIS. 



GARDEN HYACINTH. 



Class/HEXANDRIA. Order, MONOGYNIA. 

 Natural Order, ASPHODELE^. 



The eastern or garden hyacinth is one of our 

 principal bed-flowers. So much and so long has 

 its cultivation been prosecuted, that it forms a 

 staple commodity of commerce from certain parts 

 of Holland to all the other states of Europe. The 

 Dutch florists excel in the business of raising 

 hyacinths and other bulbs, and on a scale more 

 like agriculture than horticulture. They have, in 

 fact, engrossed almost the whole trade in bulbs. In 

 this they have been no less fortunate in possessing 

 a peculiarly suitable soil than they have been 



