76 CULTIVATION. 



from a very general belief, in surrounding coun- 

 tries, that bulbs can be no where else cultivated 

 with success. This idea, so favourable to the 

 Dutch trade, has, however, been doubted, and 

 now is proved to be fallacious. For, though 

 there is no where else in Europe such exten- 

 sive tracts of comparatively rich sand as they 

 have in Holland, which could be appropriated 

 to the cultivation of flower-roots, yet, for all 

 the purposes of the British florist, the soil can be 

 imitated with but little expense or trouble. It is 

 not the natural soil that the Haarlem florists 

 trust to ; they form their compost for the propa- 

 gation of, as we do for flowering, them ; and 

 there is no question, but that hyacinths, as well 

 as other bulbs, may be as v/ell cultivated in 

 England, especially near the coast, as they are 

 in Holland. 



One circumstance, however, must not be for- 

 gotten : full-sized bulbs imported from Hol- 

 land, or from any other country, will thrive bet- 

 ter, only from change of air and other circum- 

 stances, than home-bred bulbs, roots, or seeds of 



