2l8 
Garden Work 
sun, and vigorous growth, it is a great advantage to damp 
down the stages and paths once or twice a day, as this 
keeps the house cool, and produces a nice healthy growing 
atmosphere. It also prevents excessive transpiration and 
consequent danger of the plants becoming quickly dry. 
When there are many plants in bloom, however, care must 
be taken not to have the air saturated with moisture, or 
some may condense on the flowers, and speedily destroy 
them. 
There is a very long list of greenhouse plants, and to 
describe them all in detail would fill a considerable volume 
in itself. It is unnecessary in a book of this kind, as the 
variety of plants which could be grown successfully in a 
small greenhouse must be small. 
Hyacinths. — The first plants and flowers of the year 
are generally the bulbs, the Roman Hyacinths being the 
earliest. Preparation for securing these plants in bloom 
about the New Year, however, must be made a consider- 
able time before. The dry, ripened bulbs should be pur- 
chased towards the end of September, and three may be 
placed in a 4-in. pot, or four in a 5-in. pot. The pots 
should be well drained, and the soil should consist of 
3 parts of fibrous loam, 1 part of leaf mould, ^ part of 
well-decayed horse manure, with about part of sand. 
Some moss or half-decayed leaves should be placed over 
the crocks for drainage, then about 2 in. of the compost 
put in, and the bulbs placed on this, after which more of 
the compost should be put on and firmed down until the 
apex of the bulb is just covered, This should leave ^ in. 
of space at the top of the pot to allow of plenty of water 
being given when growth has well started. When potted, 
