THE MANUAL OF GARDENING. 
88 
must at the same time be sheltered from the north and east winds. 
The spot should be warm and dry, and the bed be about four feet 
wide. In preparing this bed all the earth should be first dug out 
to the depth of two feet, then the bottom should be dug over, and 
the earth rendered loose that it may have a ready drainage, as 
damp is fatal to the Hyacinth. The space left is to be filled with 
light sandy soil, mixed with rich loamy turf, well rotted, or 
leaf-mould. The Hyacinth growers near Haerlem are said to 
employ leaf-mould, fine sand, and well-rotted cow-dung; any sand 
not contaminated with iron will do: when cow-dung is used, it is 
important that it be pure, without any mixture of horse-dung or 
litter, which injure the bulb. The compost must be laid on the 
bed to the depth of three feet; but it must not be trodden hard 
down. The bulbs should be planted about the beginning of No- 
vember, and the bed raised ten inches above the path on the 
north side, and four inches on the south side, forming a regular 
slope towards the sun. Over the whole, about an inch in thick- 
ness of dry sandy earth should be spread, with the position each 
bulb is to occupy marked out. They should be planted in rows, 
the line being used. The bulbs should be pressed in, not dibbled, 
they should then be covered, from three to four inches deep, ac- 
cording to the size of the bulb. By the beginning of April the 
earlier sorts will show flower, and the finer, particularly the reds 
and blues, will retain their colour and last much longer if shaded, 
which may be done by an awning; one that is moveable is best, 
as they should only be covered during the middle of the day, and 
during heavy rain or high winds. As the stems advance they 
will require support with sticks or wires, painted green, to which 
the stems must be tied from time to time, using green worsted, 
and being careful not to injure the plant. Except in very dry 
seasons, they require no water. 
Those which are not to bear seed should be taken up when 
their leaves fade, on a dry day : care must be had not to damage 
the off-sets. They may lay close to each other on the bed, cov- 
ered with earth to an inch thick for about a fortnight, to dry; 
and then they may be cleaned from dirt, dried leaves, and off-sets, 
and be put by in a dry airy place, to remain till autumn. It is 
sometimes advised to let the off-sets remain on the parent plant 
till the time of re-planting the off-sets, which must be a month 
earlier than the old bulbs. This is probably the safest method, 
as off-sets sometimes are apt to shrivel if kept out of the earth. 
Off-sets are to be treated exactly like seedlings of the second 
year, and should be planted in rows six inches apart, and four 
inches from bulb to bulb: and covered with about two inches of 
light soil. Small off-sets may remain out more than one year 
after planting, occasionally stirring the surface, and keeping clear 
of weeds. Off-sets seldom produce good or strong bloom before 
