'220 
THE NARCISSUS. 
sufficiently to be deprived of their decayed 
foliage and stems, and be placed in bags. 
Seeds may be gathered of such as are standing 
out, and the bulbs taken up as soon afterwards 
as the leaves die down. 
August. — Turn out all the compost from 
the beds, and lay it in ridges on each side, to 
be turned over occasionally to sweeten. 
September. — Examine your bulbs and sort 
them for planting. Never plant a doubtful 
one in the best bed, as it is obvious that in an 
arrangement so uniform, a missed bloom or a 
decayed plant would be a great eyesore. 
October. — Sow seed as directed. Plant 
the best bed and all out beds and offset beds : 
if there be any reason for keeping bulbs out 
of the ground, a month is no object, but this 
month is the best : from this time all the beds, 
but especially seedlings, and beds of seed, must 
at any cost be kept clear of weeds. 
November. — Plant whatever may have 
been left out of ground until now, and sow 
seed if not done already. Cover the seedlings 
and small offset beds with litter. 
December. — Repeat the November treat- 
ment all through. 
properties op the hyacinth. 
Some of these are already appreciated a little, 
but none sufficiently distinct. There are a 
few of the present varieties which have long 
spikes of flowers, and those very compact — 
both of which are desirable — but they for the 
most part have very ill-shaped pips. There 
are others which have very prettily formed 
pips, of a great size, but they are far apart on 
the spike, and some hang awkwardly ; and 
those who exhibit the flower, know but little 
as to what caprice is to decide their fate ; but 
as the time when the flower can be seen forced 
has arrived, and the period for showing in pots 
is approaching, we take the opportunity of 
defining a little the properties which should be 
esteemed ; as nearly all the points have been 
attained in different flowers, there is every 
reason to hope, that as soon as we persevere in 
raising seedlings in this country, and force 
the Dutch to follow the example, we shall 
make rapid advances toward obtaining several 
properties in the same flower. We commence 
with the pip. 
Each pip or flower should be round and not 
ragged. The petals should be broad, thick, 
blunt at the ends, not pointed, and reflex 
enough to throw up the centre well. The foot 
stalk should be strong, and hold the flower out 
stiff in a vertical position, that is, facing the 
spectator, and by no means weak, to allow the 
pip to hang with the face sloping toward the 
ground. The foot stalks should also be of a 
length, to make the pips touch each other and 
no more. The pips should be large, for unless 
the pips be large they cannot touch each other 
without very short foot stalks, and the flowers 
would be so close to the stem, that the truss 
itself would be no size. Double flowers should 
have the rows of petals above each other very 
regulaidy imbricated, so as to throw up the 
centre. The outer petals, therefore, of a double 
flower need not reflex, and should not reflex 
so much as a single one, because the centre is 
raised by the second and third rows of petals. 
The spike should be bold, round, compact, 
and pyramidal, with a number of flowers 
at the bottom, gradually diminishing to a 
single flower at the top. The flower stem 
should be very strong and upright, and no 
part of it should be seen from the lowest 
flowers to the top, in consequence of the close- 
ness of the pips to each other. 
The colours should be bright, clear, and 
dense, whatever the shade ; and any better 
approach to scarlet, blue, or yellow, than those 
shades we now possess, would be highly 
esteemed : flowers with dark eyes, very clear 
outsides, and those with striped petals, would 
be held to be better than selfs in general, but 
would give no point against form. 
GLENNY ON THE NARCISSUS. 
The Narcissus is one of the most lovely of 
our spring flowers. The perfume is more 
powerful than that of most other flowers ; and 
if there are too many in a room, it will affect 
any weakly person. It appears a powerful 
narcotic, and will give even robust persons a 
slight headache. The varieties most esteemed 
are those which bloom in large clusters. Both 
the yellow and white are esteemed, and many 
thousands are annually imported from Hol- 
land, and are grown as well in the common 
borders as in pots and glasses. They make a 
pretty display among the early spring flowers, 
and there are many different varieties which 
group well. The best possible effect can be 
produced by them in wildernesses, in large 
rough borders, clumps, and geometrical gar- 
dens. The soil in which they succeed best is 
rich and light, but they will grow in any- 
thing, from sand to stiff clay. In light rich 
soil the bulbs do not deteriorate, and the off- 
sets may be grown up to maturity very soon, 
and they may be raised from seed without 
any difficulty. But the culture is so like 
that of the hyacinth, that we need only repeat 
the directions in full, if we desired to go into 
details. 
There is a difference between the mode of 
