THE ELOEAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 
331 
care in watering will be necessary until the plants get established in 
their new pots. A slight shade for a few hours in the forenoons of 
bright days will be beneficial, but this must not be overdone, and a 
free circulation of air should be maintained night and day, except 
when cold drying currents of wind may prevail, and then the lights 
should be raised on the sheltered side only, and the temperature 
kept down by means of shading. The plants will be greatly benefited 
by full exposure to the night dews when the weather is fine, but tile 
lights should be so placed as to ward off a heavy storm of rain, 
should such occur ; the lights should, however, be put on every 
morning, for the purpose of securing a moist atmosphere, and the 
plants should be moistened overhead, as well as the floor on which 
they stand. Inure the specimens to full exposure to air and sun- 
shine by the beginning of September, in order to get the wood well 
ripened before the damp foggy days of November ; and when cold 
damp weather occurs remove them to a light airy part of the 
greenhouse, which will be a proper place for them iu winter, when 
water must be carefully administered. The same treatment con- 
tinued during another season will furnish large handsome specimens, 
and as soon as the plants are large enough to be considered useful, 
they may be allowed to remain in a cool airy part of the greenhouse 
to expand their blossoms, after which they may be taken to the 
show-house, or any cool place where their beauty will be most 
enjoyable. When the beauty of the flower is over, the shoots should 
be cut back as much as may be necessary to keep the specimens 
close and bushy ; and when growth recommences, give a moderate 
shift, and allow the plants a fortnight under glass, until the roots 
can lay hold of the fresh soil, then remove them to a warm, sheltered 
part of the plant ground where they will make sufficient young wood 
for bloom iu the course of the summer. 
THE HYACINTH. 
HERE are few plants in cultivation which so generously 
repay the attention given them as the hyacinth, or which 
are so accommodating in their habits. Hyacinths thrive 
in almost any soil, and planted iu moist sand or placed 
on the surface of water, bloom almost as finely as when 
planted in the richest compost, and there is not a habitation fit for 
being the abode of man where they will not deign to grow and 
bloom. It is, therefore, no matter for surprise that the hyacinth 
has, from time immemorial, been a favourite with lovers of flowers 
in all grades of society. Its accommodating habit and easy culture 
bring its beautiful spikes of sweet-scented blossoms within the reach 
of the inhabitants of a cottage, or the possessor of the smallest 
garden plot ; and in beauty and fragrance it is not surpassed by the 
most expensive plants, with which the opulent can decorate their 
flower- houses at Christmas. Much has been written respecting the 
culture of this lovely plant, the greater portion of which has, un- 
November. 
