14 
WISCONSIN HORTICULTURE 
September, 1916 
Indoor Culture of Hyacinths 
and Narcissus. 
(Continued from page 7) 
the table and removing the 
earth ball. If the exterior of the 
earth ball is covered with roots, 
then the plant has developed 
sufficiently to be brought in for 
flower production. 
If the proper temperature has 
been maintained there will be 
little or no trouble from top 
growth. If the tops do begin to 
grow it is not necessary to bring 
them into the light at once. Tops 
having considerable extent, 
which will be white when grown 
in the dark, will turn their proper 
color in two or three days after 
bringing into the light. During 
the period in which the roots are 
developing, little water is neces- 
sary. Just enough should be 
given to keep the soil well moist- 
ened. It will probably not be 
necessary to water them more 
than once a week, and frequently 
not so often. As soon as the 
roots have developed the plants 
may be brought in for forcing. It 
is well if a number of plants are 
being grown to bring them in at 
intervals as this will provide a 
succession of flowers. 
The bulbs should not be 
brought from the low storage 
temperatures into the high tem- 
perature of a living room in one 
change. It is better to bring them 
into high temperatures gradually. 
Very frequently the buds are 
blasted by giving too high a 
temperature. A bulb does not 
need high temperature, sixty to 
sixty-five degrees being sufficient 
and the flowers will last much 
longer than if higher tempera- 
tures are given. The higher tem- 
peratures, seventy to seventy- 
five degrees, give quicker results, 
but with danger of blasting the 
buds. The bulb needs little care 
after being brought into the light 
save in the matter of water. 
Water copiously at long intervals 
giving water only when the soil 
indicates that there is a lack of 
moisture. 
Hyacinths may be forced for 
more than one year, but the 
narcissus are usually so weak- 
ened that it is advisable to throw 
away the bulbs or to plant them 
out of doors and buy new ones 
for forcing the following season. 
If the bulbs are to be carried 
over, the leaves should be al- 
lowed to remain on the plants 
after the flowers are off. Remove 
the flower stalks as soon as the 
flowers are wilted, then set in the 
light in a temperature of about 
sixty to sixty-five degrees, and 
allow the plant to continue its 
growth until matured. After the 
leaves have wilted of their own 
accord, they may be removed, 
the bulb taken out and stored 
during the summer. 
Water Culture. Water culture 
does not materially differ from 
soil culture save in the medium 
in which the plants are grown. 
There are various methods of 
water culture, the most common 
being that in which the bowl or 
hyacinth glass is used. The bowl 
is preferable for forcing narcissus 
as it is possible to grow a larger 
number thereby getting a better 
effect. However, with the hya- 
cinth a single bulb in a hyacinth 
glass is very satisfactory. In the 
bowl culture take a shallow bowl 
preferably about three to four 
inches deep. In the bottom of 
this put one-half inch of granu- 
lated charcoal. The purpose of 
the charcoal is to keep the water 
“sweet.” On this may be placed 
a shallow layer of one inch of 
gravel or sand, gravel being 
preferable. The bulbs are then 
placed on this material and the 
dish filled with pebbles or coarse 
gravel. The object of this is to 
keep the plants upright. Put in 
sufficient water so that it just 
touches the bottoms of the 
bulbs. The dish may then be 
set away and carried the same as 
for soil culture. The time re- 
quired for developing, however, 
will not be so great. Three- 
fourths of the failures in water 
culture of narcissus and hya- 
cinths is in trying to carry the 
plants at too high a temperature. 
Do not bring in the bulbs and 
place them in the warmest and 
brightest portions of the room. 
There should be plenty of light, 
but the temperature should be 
kept low, otherwise there will 
be a very excessive vegetative 
growth and few blossoms, very 
frequently the buds blasting and 
no blossoms being secured. 
Kinds for Forcing. One of the 
chief bulbs for forcing is the 
so-called Chinese Sacred Lily. 
This is an early flowering narcis- 
sus. It has the largest bulb of the 
narcissus group, and each bulb 
produces a number of flower 
stalks. It is well adapted for 
either pot or water culture. 
Probably the best white nar- 
cissus is the Paper White. These 
two kinds usually give a suffi- 
cient number of early flowers. 
They can then be followed by 
the Pseudo-narcissus which are 
more often known as daffodils. 
Two varieties of daffodils which 
stand out among the finest for 
forcing is the Von Sion which is a 
large, double yellow trumpet, 
and the Emperor which is a 
large single trumpet. Of the cup 
daffodils the Incomparabilis flor- 
iplena is one of the best. All of 
these are adapted to both pot 
and water culture. 
Hyacinths. Some of the best 
named varieties for both water 
and soil culture are: white. 
Mount Blanc and L. Grandesse; 
pink. Lord Macauley, Von Schil- 
ler and Robert Steiger; blue, 
Charles Dickens, Grand Lilas 
and Mimosa. 
