26 
KENDALL AND WHITNEY'S 
DIRECTIONS FOR 
PLANTING BULBOUS ROOTS. 
THE HYACINTH. 
Its beauty, fragrance, easy culture and wonderful adaptation have justly merited 
for it the appellation of Domestic Flower. It is alike a favorite with the denizens 
of the city and the dwellers in the country, and is adapted for cultivation in pots 
and glasses, in the house or in beds, patches, edgings or ribbons in the open air. 
It grows freely in almost any medium capable of retaining moisture, and will gen- 
erally produce fine spikes of bloom when grown in sand, moss or water ; as when 
planted in the richest compost— we therefore recommend its use in the following : 
: Ancient relics and ornaments, such as vases, bowls, dishes, cornucopias, &c, of 
whatever size, shape, or form, from the small ornament that will hold a Crocus to 
that old and once familiar relic the large family punch-bowl capable of growing a 
dozen Hyacinths, &c. ; these tilled with moss and sand and planted with various 
bulbs, while they cherish a sweet remembrance of the past, their occupants full of 
fresh life and beauty enliven the dull clays of winter, and with successional plant- 
ings may be made so many connecting links between the glorious autumn and the 
lovely spring. 
Wire and rustic work also play their part ; be the device a simple basket sus- 
pended in the conservatory, a pretty berlin flower-basket on the sitting-room table 
or window, or a flow T er stand terraced or flat, lined or not w r ith zinc, and filled with 
moss, will grow bulbs to perfection. 
Zinc, which can be readily formed into any device, may be made to occupy the 
whole front of a sitting-room window, and if filled with moss or sand according 
to taste or convenience, and planted with Hyacinths, Crocuses, Snow-drops, 
Tulips, Polyanthus and Narcissus, would in itself form a complete miniature win- 
ter flower garden. 
The Dutch have another very interesting mode of culture : they take a flat dish, ' 
either crystal or procelain, about the depth of a soup plate, and according to its 
size, place 3, G, 9, or 12 strong, healthy bulbs in about half an inch of water. In 
a few clays the roots begin to spread out horizontally, and so clasp each other that 
in the course of a few weeks they form a natural support for the group. The 
bulbs may or may not be covered with moss. 
In whatever manner the Hyacinth may be grown, it unquestionably deserves 
everything that may be said in its favor. 
TIME OF PLANTING. 
Nature here is a good guide. Whenever the bulbs begin to throw out their roots, 
it is a sign that they want a medium to root in. Select such as show a disposition 
to start, for the first planting, say about the middle of September. Successive 
plantings may be made fortnightly until the first of January. Your first planting 
will then be in bloom about Christmas, and your last in May. 
From the middle of October to the end of November is early enough for plant- 
ing out of doors. By covering the ground with straw or stable manure to keep 
the frost out, they may be successfully planted as late as January. 
After the early part of December, Hyacinths intended for glasses would flower 
better if first planted in pots, and when half grown turned out and the roots freed 
from the soil, which is easily done in tepid water, and afterwards grown in glasses 
as intended. & 
