.12 
CULTURE OF THE HYACINTH. 
rich mould, raised six inches above the level of the surrounding ground, rounded as 
recommended for the flowering bed. 
28. Plant the bulbs in rows, six inches apart, and four inches from bulb to 
bulb, or closer if they are very small ; cover them with about two inches of light 
dry soil ; and nothing more is necessary than to keep the bed free from weeds, and 
occasionally stirring up the soil on the surface of the bed. 
29. Take them up at the same time as the flowering bulbs, re-plant them at 
the proper season, and treat them afterwards in every respect as the old bulbs. 
30. Propagation by Seeds. — Select some of the finest single or semi-double 
ones for producing seed, such as have strong fine stems, and well-formed bells ; 
but always prevent the bulbs intended for flowering the succeeding season from 
bearing seed, or they will be materially weakened. 
31. Never gather the seed until it is perfectly ripe, which will be known by the 
seed-vessels beginning to open. Cut off the whole stem, and place it on a sheet of 
paper in a dry, airy room, until the time of sowing. This is always preferable to 
clearing it from the husk, because, when done so, it is apt to shrivel, and seldom 
grows freely. 
32. The best time to sow is in October, about the same time that the off-sets 
are planted. Fill boxes or pans with good light loam and sand, or with the same 
kind of soil as recommended for planting the bulbs in. Cover the seed not less 
than one-fourth of an inch, nor more than half an inch deep. 
33. When the seed is sown, place the pans or boxes in a green-house, or frame, 
during winter. In the spring remove them to a somewhat shaded situation ; and 
they require little attention, except keeping clean from weeds, until they are up ; 
they will then probably require occasionally watering. When the tops have died 
down, add a thin layer of fresh soil to the top, but without disturbing the roots, 
until the leaves have died the second year, when the bulbs may be taken and 
replanted, after the manner of old bulbs or off-sets. 
34. If so treated, some of the strongest will very likely show flower the third 
or fourth year after sowing ; they may then be selected — the good ones for beds 
and forcing — the moderate ones for border-flowers. 
Criterion of a good Hyacinth. — " The stem should be strong, tall, and erect, 
supporting numerous large bells, each suspended by a short and strong peduncle or 
foot-stalk, in a horizontal position, so that the whole may have a compact, pyra- 
midal form, with the crown or uppermost flower perfectly erect. The flowers 
should be large and perfectly double ; that is, well filled with broad, bold petals, 
appearing to the eye rather convex than flat or hollow : they should occupy about 
one-half the length of the stem. The colours should be clear and bright, whether 
plain, red, white, or blue, or variously intermixed and diversified in the eye : the 
latter, it must be confessed, gives additional lustre and elegance to this beautiful 
flower. Strong bright colours are, in general, preferred to such as are pale." 
Maddock, and Encyclop. Card,, 
