THE HYACINTH FROM AN ENGLISH POINT OF VIEW. 67 



begin to open, the spikes must be supported with neat sticks. 

 When the flowers fade, cut off the spikes at once, to give the 

 leaves a chance to fully develop themselves. When the leaves 

 begin to turn yellow, dig up the bulbs, and store them in a dry 

 place. The hyacinth has been much used for spring bedding, 

 but the bulbs are often taken up before they are ripe to make 

 room for the summer occupants of the beds, and in that case a 

 fresh supply of bulbs must be imported annually. 



Culture in pots. — I have cultivated the Hyacinth successfully 

 as an exhibition plant in pots for more than a quarter of a 

 century, and may therefore claim the right to be a teacher of 

 those who are but commencing their culture. The first point to 

 attend to is the purchase of the bulbs, and if the best results are 

 expected, full-grown bulbs must be purchased in the best varieties. 

 Those intended to flower early should be planted in their pots 

 about the middle of September, or even earlier. Those that will 

 flower in March, a month later. They should be planted in a 

 rich compound of good loam two parts, one part decayed cow 

 manure, one part leaf mould, and one of river sand. This 

 mixture should be laid up in a heap about the beginning of 

 August, in order that the ingredients may be well incorporated 

 before the material is used. I use the ordinary form of pot, five 

 and six inches diameter inside measure. See that the pots are 

 clean, and that clean potsherds are placed over the holes for 

 drainage ; some rough turf should be placed over the drainage to 

 prevent the finer particles of soil from mixing with it, and thus 

 choking the outlet of water. It is well known that a Hyacinth 

 will grow and flower well in water only ; but when it is planted in 

 garden mould, too much water, or a stoppage of the outlet for the 

 superfluous water, will destroy the roots and seriously cripple the 

 growth of the plant. 



In placing the bulb in the soil, the crown should just be seen 

 above it. Place a little clean sand under each, and over the 

 crown another pinch of sand. Plunge them out of doors in cocoa 

 fibre refuse. Some persons place a small pot inverted over the 

 crown of each bulb, but I do not do this ; they are merely covered 

 with about four inches of cocoa fibre refuse, and left until roots 

 have freely formed. They are taken, in the first place, into a 

 cool greenhouse, and a small pot is inverted over the crown of 

 each bulb, in order that the tender leaves may not be injured by 



