10 



THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 



rapidly rooting in silver sand. I have profited by my experience of the Saffron Crocus, and 

 it is both pleasing and amusing to watch their seeming struggles for a free development. 

 One group with Hyacinths in the centre (in a soup-plate fortunately), presents the appearance 

 of a violent eruption having taken place ; they appear to be rooting so vigorously, that I am 

 getting quite alarmed as to how they will dispose of them, for tbe bulk in the plate increases 

 day by day. I am fearful that the aspiring propensities of the Hyacinths will upset altogether 

 the symmetry and the harmony of my mimic winter garden. The Tulips seem to be much 

 more modest in their requirements, though as yet they are not evidencing any signs of growth. 

 Meanwhile, I have commenced the cultivation of some Hyacinths in glasses, I procure 

 common glasses, of Tye's registered pattern, with supports — they answer my purpose while 

 they square with my means. I grow a few double, but generally single Hyacinths in 

 glasses, the latter give the best spike in water and the finest-formed bells. I have some 

 eighteen varieties in cultivation, all of which are rooted well down to the bottoms of the 

 glasses. I allow the water quite to touch the base of the bulb, not nearly to touch it as 

 some write and say, and I have kept them almost entirely exposed to the light from the 

 commencement. If I find the water at any time emits a bad odour, I change it ; if not', I 

 Bimply keep the glass filled up as evaporation takes place. They thrive admirably on the 

 shelves in the window and on the mantlepiece ; and, should frost threaten, I remove them 

 from the window to a safe distance. They grow slowly but strongly, for occupying the 

 room but little, I seldom have a fire. The following are the kinds I have in cultivation. 

 Double Blue. — Othello. Single Blue. — Prince Albert, Grande Yidette, General Lauriston, 

 Argus, Couronne de Oelle, and Uncle Tom. Double Red. — Sir J. Paxton, Lord Wellington, 

 Single Med. — L'Etincellante, La Beine des Beauties, Cosmos, Norma, and Bobert Steiger. 

 Double White. — Blanchard. Single White. — Mont Blanc, Alba Maxima, Pavillion Blanc, 

 Grande Vainqueur, and Grande Yidette. I have also a few in pots that are not so forward 

 as those in glasses, they are newer varieties to me, and I am testing their merits. Some of 

 the kinds are in glasses, are intended for the same state of probation. I am cultivating in pots, 

 in a small one-light box. I use 32-pots, and the soil is a mixture of loam and rotted 

 manure, with some road or silver sand in it. This compost can be procured at any nursery. 

 I also place some well-rotted manure at the bottom of the pots, my knowledge of Hyacinths 

 leading me to infer that they love to feed on something of this kind. I almost cover the 

 whole of the root, and I pot them lightly for the same reason — that in rooting the bulb 

 should not be forced upwards, as is sometimes the case when they are potted hard, or the 

 bulb is nearly wholly exposed. I simply stand them in a cellar to encourage them to root. 

 I have now introduced them to the frame. I have potted a few Tulips as well, three bulbs 

 in a pot, using the same size as for the Hyacinths, and the same compost. I have of double 

 varieties : Extremite d'Or, Prince de Galitzin, Tournesol, Imperator Bubrorum, and Marriage 

 de ma Fille ; of single varieties : Feu Bouge, White Pottebakker, Golden Prince, Yermilion 

 Brilliant, and Couleur Ponceau. As I potted these much later than the Hyacinths, I antici- 

 pate that they will succeed them. I intend when they are in flower, and as soon as the blooms 

 are fully expanded, to tie a piece of fine cotton round them, by this means they can be pro^ 

 longed in flower for a considerable period. I fear that should I be successful in flowering 

 both my Hyacinths and Tulips in pots, that their beauty will become sadly marred by the 

 showers of blacks that constitute a considerable portion of the atmosphere ; but then it 

 is one of the inevitable disadvantages of large towns and cities. I pot but a very few 

 Crocus, they scarcely repay the trouble of growing in pots, their bloom has such a brief 

 existence. I place six bulbs in a pot, and have used for that purpose Mrs. B. Stowe, Liliaceus 

 superbus, Sir Walter Scott, and Golden Yellow. 



Such is the nature of my attempt, and the process by which I endeavour to achieve the 

 results contemplated. I am persuaded that more can be donein London in the way of in-door 

 gardening than is generally conceived. There is pleasure not unmixed with some profit in 

 the attempt, even if the results are abortive or altogether disappointing. Cultivating under 

 such manifest disadvantages I cannot hope to contend for the prizes offered by Mr. Cutbush 

 to amateur growers of Hyacinths in the ensuing spring ; but I have the satisfaction of know- 

 ing that I am co-operating with him, though in a very small degree, in the widening of the 

 area of its cultivation; and I hope to see the collections that will be staged in competition 

 for his prizes, to observe how wide is the "line of demarcation" between the successful 

 groups and my humble and less-favoured productions. In one sense I shall gain a prize 

 notwithstanding, in the high gratification I reap daily at ever so cursory an inspection of my 

 bulbs, and rising to higher levels as the season for blooming approaches. Here is a source 

 of real pleasure from within. The best and most satisfying sources of happiness spring from 

 within us, and I seem both to see and feel something of the truth contained in the couplet 

 of the poet — 



" Ingenuous arts, where they an entrance find, 

 Soften the manners and subduo the mind." 



Quo. 



