BULBS AND THEIR CULTURE-The Hyacinth. 
THE HYACINTH (continued). 
The Hyacinth is one of tho best of all plants for the open garden in Spring ; its effect, distant or otherwise, is ol 
the most oharming character, and we are not without hope of seeing it a conspicuous ornament of every garden at 
that season. The mixed and cheap self-coloured kinds will suit admirably for flower-garden planting, whorever it 
may be inexpedient to procure the more expensive kinds. . 
The Hyacinths usually supplied for bedding purposes having been occasionally complained of as being insufficient 
and uncertain of colour, we have dovoted careful and particular attention to the removal of this source of complaint, 
and are happy to sav that we are now in a position to supply Hyacinths of brilliant and certain colours, viz., light or 
dark blue, light or dark red, pure white, and white with coloured eyes, at 4,s. 6 d. per dozen ; this we trust will be deemed 
a desirable consummation, as it will render possible, at a moderate cost, a beautiful and effective out-door ^ arrange- 
ment of this riohly soented and favourite flower. We can also supply the ordinary mixed varieties of Hyacinths (the 
distinct shades of colour of which wo cannot guarantee) at 3.i. per dozen, or 21s. per hundred. See pages 10 and 11. 
For drawing-room, greenhouse, and conservatory decoration, almost everybody admires and employs the Hyacinth 
for its rich and delicate varioty of colouring. It is the first plant that comes to aid tho forcing gardener in bpring, 
and continues for weeks and weeks to perfume and beautify our homes. The time to begin potting is September for 
an early bloom, and if a good and continuous succession is required, in intervals of a fortnight till the end of the year. 
The best soil is a friable sandy loam, with a little leaf mould and rotten dung. Cultivators usually put a littlo sand 
under the bulb, which should' show its apex a little above the lovel of the soil after being potted. Some now put 
ooooa fibre instead of sand ; either will do, but we prefer the sand. Where pot Hyacinths are grown on a large scale, 
it would be advisable to have a number of pots made on purpose, as the ordinary-shaped flower pots are not deep 
enough for Hyacinths, which root deeply, and, to do well, require plenty of room. These pots should be made neat ly 
upright, and of two sizes ; one, for three bulbs in a pot, should be nine inches in diameter (inside measure) and nine 
inches deep ; another, for one bnlb in a pot, should be six inches in diameter, and seven inches doep. When to be 
finished oil' in pots, one bulb in each pot is best, for if all the bulbs in a larger pot do not succeed well, the effect is 
marred ; the smallor the pots are, tho more easily can a fine effect be producod by massing them iu vases or baskets 
afterwards. When fully established, the plants lose little or nothing by being turned out of such pots, and placed as 
close together as desirable in suitable soil, or even iu half-rotted moss. A common 48 pot mill grow a plant nicolg, 
though deeper ones, as mentioned above, would be better. When potting is complete, let the pots be placed on a dry 
level bottom of coal ashes in an open place, and covered over, to a depth of from six to eight inches above the bulbs, 
with decayed leaves, sand, or old tanner’s bark, leaving it rather higher in the centre than at the sides, so as to throw 
off heavy rains ; or a few boards or a tarpaulin will bo useful for the same purpose, as the soil in the pots will absorb 
as much moisture from the ground as the bulbs require. If placed in such a bed from the beginniug of September to 
the middlo of October, the bulbs will havo a temperature ranging from 5(T to 55", which, iu soil not over wet, will 
promote a healthy vegetation. In from eight to ten weeks tho pots will bo getting crammed with roots, and before 
that time it is vain to attempt to force them to produce good flower stems. The bulbs had been gradually deprived 
of their moisture the previous summer ; and now they must be gradually supplied with it through healthy roots to 
secure a healthy flower stem early in the season. When waufced in fall bloom by Christmas and the New \ear, those 
pots full of roots, and showing the flower truss through the incipient leaves, should be selected, placed at first in a 
shady part of a greenhouse, so that the blanched foliago may not be hurt, and iu a fow days remove to a forcing pit, 
where a mild bottom heat can be given to the plunged pots of from 70'* to 75°, and a top heat of from 60“ to 66 . 
Here the plants must be gently shaded, until the leaves become quite green. The pots, though plunged, should be set 
upon slates, boards, or anything that will prevent the roots from entering the plunging medium, whether tan, leaves, 
&c &c. Tho extra bottom heat is a great means of success at this early period. Until moved from the bed, very little 
watering will be needed. The flower truss is apt to come too close, the stem not growing long enough, at this early 
poriod, to lot the florets expand ; an empty flower pot placed on the top of the other will tend to remedy this ; we 
prefer, however, funnels of paper, say eight inches in length, placed over the pot. If, after this, the flower stem 
should still be too dumpy, give a few degrees more top heat for a few days. Whenever the stem shows the least sip 
of beimr too much drawn, so as to leave an excess of room between tho individual flowers, gradually lower the 
temperature in which tho plants are placed. When the flower slem and leaves are all that could bo desired, and the 
flowers are approaching the opening, raise the pots out of the plunging medium, and even keep cooler by more air ; 
now the bulbs will require a free supply of water. After the pots have stood on the surface of the bed for a few days, 
remove thorn to the greenhouse or sitting-room ; manure waterings and a rich top-dressing will generally keep them 
iu longer luxuriance. To have blooms in March and onwards, little of this extra care is necessary ; the chief extra 
treatment required may be the paper funnel. When the pots aro brought from the bed or the cellar, keep shaded 
until the leaves get green, and then place them on the greenhouse shelf or parlour window ; in alt cases, healthy 
rooting must precede flue blooming. In the case of those of our readers who have no means of covering up their 
pots in a bed, or even a cellar in which to place them without covering, the bulbs may be grown in any sitting or 
dining-room in the same way, requiring only that a damp atmosphere should be kept about them ; and light is not 
wanted until they are progressing freely. The bulbs, when potted, will do well in the bottom of a cupboard, if set in 
damp moss or anything of that kind, and a small portion of the same sprinkled over them. They dislike at first the 
dry air of a sitting-room ; if the floor of the cupboard is sprinkled frequently, that will be sufficient. Great success 
depends generally on trifles, and to keep a damp atmosphere about the bulbs at first is far better than deluging the 
P °Wten^n W full I free growth it is desirable to give Hyacinths thorough watering when they are being watered, for they 
are gross feeders, and, like all pot plants, suffer from the little-drop-of-water-at-a-time system. 
All pot Hyacinths must bo staked in some way, and with slender wire is the best and neatest way to do it. Conoeal 
the top of the stake among the flowers on the spike, and never let it show above them when the spike is tally grown. 
Culture in Glasses. 
This very interesting mode of growing Hyacinths may be attended with a good result if sufficient care is taken. 
Some say they cannot be grown well in this way, but this is a mistake, inasmuch as we frequently see them bloom 
nicely in glasses with persons who possess but very little skill and experience with plants. It is true they may not 
be m-own quite so well in this way as when placed in fertile earth, but they may be sufficiently so to justify in-door 
FOR COLLECTIONS OF HYACINTHS, SEE PAGE 6. 
