October.'} CROCUS — HYACINTHS. 117 
never making a tuber sufficient for another year's planting. 
Several hundred varieties are cultivated in England with 
great care and complete success. They are planted in a 
deep rich soil, using a considerable portion of cow manure 
and decomposed leaves, covering the crowns of the roots 
about two inches. The tubes are flat, but the eye from 
whence the flower-stem arises is apparent on one of the 
sides, which must be laid uppermost. During the severity 
of winter they should be protected by a frame, and have a 
sprinkling of very dry leaves strewn among them. 
Crocus. — There are upwards of one hundred varieties of 
this vernal flower in cultivation, attended with universal suc- 
cess. They delight in rich soils, and may either be planted 
in beds or rows, at least two inches deep, and six inches 
from row to row — they seldom require removal; every three 
or four years will be sufficient. They can be purchased at 
from seventy-five cents to two dollars per hundred, according 
to quality. When they are done blooming, the foliage 
should not be removed till perfectly decayed. 
Fritilldriii, or Crown Imperial. See last month. 
Hyacinths. — The ground that was prepared for these last 
month should all be divided into beds four feet wide, leaving 
between each alleys of twenty inches. Skim off four or 
five inches of the surface of the former into the latter, level 
the bed smoothly with the rake, and mark it off in rows 
eight inches apart. Plant the roots in the row eight inches 
asunder. Thus they will be in squares, and by planting the 
different colours, alternately, the bed will be beautifully di- 
versified. Cover each bulb with sand, when it can be pro- 
cured. Put about four inches of earth over the crowns, 
which will make the beds from two to three inches higher 
than the alleys. The beds before and after planting should 
be gently rounded from the middle to each side, to let the 
rain pass off. Finish all by raking evenly, straighten the 
edgings with the line, and clear out the alleys or pathways. 
We have grown Hyacinths in great perfection, when, in 
addition to the above, we covered them with two to three 
inches of cow manure. The Dutch florists name nearly two 
thousand varieties of this flower, and have large fields de- 
voted to their culture. When the double varieties were first 
brought into notice, they sold at from one to two thousand 
guilders a root (about from four to eight hundred dollars). 
