THE HYACINTH FROM AN ENGLISH POINT OE VIEW. 



65 



red ; Apollo, flesh colour streaked rose ; Claudius Civilis, with 

 flesh coloured spots ; Coralline, coral red ; the Queen of Flowers, 

 pure white, and the bottom of the rim rose colour ; the King of 

 Flowers, very double pure white. Another white variety was 

 named Kaisar's White Jewel ; Princess Eoyal, white streaked 

 red, &c. Loudon states, on the authority of Miller, that the 

 Haarlem growers in his day, about 1725, enumerated 2,000 

 varieties. They were also much cultivated in England from 

 bulbs sent over from Holland. Miller was, I fancy, the first to 

 protest against purchasing Hyacinth bulbs in Holland. He 

 fancied they could be raised from seeds, and cultivated after- 

 wards better in England. His plan of raising seedlings was to 

 sow the seeds in boxes, and at the end of the first season very 

 small bulbs were formed ; these were planted in beds of rich 

 earth, and the bulbs were left in the ground, where they were 

 planted until they flowered, which was commonly in five years 

 after sowing. He gives elaborate directions for their culture out 

 of doors, and adds, " It hath been the want of skill in the man- 

 agement of these noble flowers which has occasioned the ill 

 success most people have had with them in England, whereby 

 they are almost entirely neglected, supposing their roots degen- 

 erate when they have flowered in England, which is a great 

 mistake." And as emphasising his own statement, adds that his 

 "very worthy and ingenious friend, James Justice, Esq., near 

 Edinburgh, hath succeeded so well in the management of these 

 flowers, as to equal any of the Dutch florists." His friend also 

 raised many seedlings, amongst them a most extraordinary fine 

 one, which he called the Eoyal British Star. The height of its 

 stem was twenty inches, upon which were twenty-three flowers, 

 very large and double, of an extraordinary white colour on the 

 upper part of the petals, and the lower part a very deep 

 violet. 



Since Miller's time various persons have tried to cultivate 

 the Hyacinth in England for commercial purposes. I have had 

 bulbs sent to me, English-grown, for trial against those sent 

 from Holland ; but the result, so far, has been to convince me 

 that the Dutch-grown bulbs are much superior. It may be 

 thought by some that it is unpatriotic to say this, but in a paper 

 of this kind we can but faithfully record the results of our 

 experience, and " facts are chiels that wunna ding." 



