286 THE FLOWER-GARDEN. [chap. yiii. 
mixture of fine vegetable mould. Whatever 
the soil may' be* it can hardly be too light* 
as the Dutch say that the hyacinth will 
never thrive unless in sand so fine as to be 
blown away in separate particles by a high 
wind. When hyacinths are to be grown to 
the greatest perfection in England* a bed* or 
rather pit* should be dug three feet or four 
feet wide* and six feet deep* the length 
depending on the situation* and on the 
quantity of flowers to be grown. A layer of 
stale cow-dung, without any mixture of 
straw or litter* should be laid at the bottom 
of this pit at least a foot deep* and the pit 
should then be filled up to within three 
inches of the top* with equal parts of peat 
and silver-sand* or with a mixture of three 
parts of silver-sand to one of light vegetable 
mould perfectly fine and without any stones. 
About three inches from the top should be 
spread a layer of pure sand in which the 
bulbs are placed at regular distances* and 
each with the pointed end* which the Dutch 
call the nose* upwards; and the bed is then 
filled up with the same mixture as the lower 
part* and a layer about three inches deep of 
