CHAP. VIII. J 
HYACINTHS. 
289 
or if they will not come off readily by pull¬ 
ing, they are cut off close to the bulb. The 
bulbs are then taken out of the ground, and 
laid on the footpath in rows, so as to keep 
the different kinds distinct. The bed is 
afterwards raked smooth all over, and a strip 
about a foot and a half broad is made flat 
and firm, in the middle of the bed, by being 
pressed with a plank, or beaten with the 
back of the spade, and on this the hyacinth- 
roots are laid, still in distinct rows: earth is 
then drawn over them two or three inches 
thick, and they are left for two or three weeks. 
This the Dutch call lying in the Kauil, and 
the time of remaining in it varies according 
to the size of the bulb and the weather, the 
largest bulbs being removed soonest. When 
taken from the Kauil, the bulbs are placed 
on shelves or wooden trays to dry, with the 
root end of the bulb inclining towards the 
south. 
Where it is not thought advisable to sink 
the bed so deep as six feet, it may be made 
four feet deep, and the layer of cow-dung at 
the bottom mixed with soil a foot deep, 
leaving only about three feet to be filled with 
u 
