308 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
October, 
Preserving Flowers for Winter. 
We number not a few botanists among our 
readers, and a still larger number of persons who 
love flowers for their own sake, and who would 
like to preserve them with more or less fresh¬ 
ness throughout the year. This can be done 
with a little care. All that is required is, to dry 
and press them, and then to fasten them witli glue 
or gum to the pages of a blank book—attach also 
the names of the flowers. In selecting specimens 
for preservation, take 
those of average size, 
with no parts wanting, 
4nd none in excess. Get 
those with leaves at¬ 
tached to the flowers, 
and with stems not very 
thick, else they will not 
press well, nor lie 
smoothly within the 
Heaves of the book. Get 
also a specimen of the 
seed vessels, if you have 
a seed-hearing plant. 
The plant - gatherer 
should, tf possible, go 
nut into the woods and 
fields, equipped with a bo¬ 
tanical nox. This is 
nothing more than a flat 
tin box, s<x or eight inch¬ 
es wide, t*nd a foot or fif¬ 
teen incues long, and 
shaped like a candle box, 
only thinner, and having 
a lid which shuts tight. 
This will keep the speci¬ 
mens fresh for a day or 
two, if occasionally 
sprinkled. He should also 
have at home a portfolio 
a lit tie larger than the 
box, for receiving the 
plants at the close of each 
excursion, and for drying them. The paper may 
he any common unsized sort, such as the poorest 
printing paper, or grocer’s white tea-paper. The 
newly gathered specimens should be laid separate¬ 
ly between thesheets of paper, and then a moder¬ 
ate weight he laid upon the closed portfolio. If the 
specimens are quite succulent and moist, they 
should he placed between several sheets of coarse 
orown paper, to absorb the moisture ; and it may 
be necessary to change these absorbers daily for 
a week, before the specimens are perfectly dry. 
The blank book for receiving the dried plants 
is generally called a Herbarium. It should be 
made for this specific use. The best size is about 
sixteen incites by eleven. Some prefer eighteen 
by eleven. The great botanist Linnams, used 
common foolscap paper, eleven by seven ; but he 
found this too small. The best kind of paper for 
an herbarium is a neat, rather firm, and sized pa- 
pur, kept for such purposes at most bookstores. 
The several species of plants should be placed in 
sheets by themselves, with only one specimen to 
a sheet. The generic and specific name of the 
plant should he written at the lower right hand 
corner of the sheet, together with any other items 
of interest connected with the history of the 
plant; such, for instance, as the place and time 
when gathered, or the friend from whom it was 
received, etc Then, as these sheets accumu¬ 
late, they should he gathered into covers, (called 
by botanists “genus-covers,”) made of a thin sort 
of paste-board, or the coarsest drawing-paper, and 
the name of the genus written on the outside. 
When several of these are collected, they may 
be put into a thick portfolio, having the name of 
the. Order on the outside. The portfolios may 
be kept on the shelves of the library. Specimens 
should be dried as quickly as possible, to pre¬ 
vent their becoming black and moldy. As many 
kinds of plants, and conifers especially, are apt 
to fall in pieces when dried, this maybe prevent¬ 
ed by plunging the newly gathered specimen fora 
minute into boiling water. We know of few re¬ 
creations for a stormy day in Fall or Winter, more 
pleasant than examining a good Herbarium. 
Bulbous Flowers—Hyacinths and Tulips. 
October is the best month for making beds of 
hyacinths and tulips. Other bulbous-rooter’, 
plants are not indeed to be disparaged. For how 
could one get along without 
“ The Snow Drop, which in habit white and plain, 
Comes on, the herald of fair Flora’s train 
or the crocus, said in some regions to be 
“ the first gilt thing 
That w ears the trembling breath of Spring.” 
or the Narcissus, Gladiolus, Tiger-flower, the 
Lilies and many others. No; we would not 
breathe a word against them ; hut just now, our 
thoughts run in the line of hyacinths and tulips. 
Does any one forget how much interest was 
formerly felt in these flowers, especially the tulip 1 
In the seventeenth century, the latter became an 
important article of commerce, and the price of 
favorite bulbs was almost incredible. In Holland 
and Belgium, several thousand francs were often 
given for a single root; and in 1637, the whole 
amount sold amounted to several millions of 
francs. A piece of property is still exhibited in 
the town of Lille, which, though valued at $6,000 
was once exchanged for a single fancy tulip ! The 
following story is told on good authority : “ Dur¬ 
ing the tulip-mania in Holland, a merchant gave 
a herring to a poor sailor who had brought some 
goods into his store. The sailor seeing some 
roots lying on the counter, and supposing them 
to be onions, took some of them unperceived and 
ate them with his herring. It turned out that 
they w ere very rare and valuable tulips, and the 
sailor’s breakfast cost the merchant a greater 
sum than if he had entertained the Prince ol 
Orange !” But tilings were thus getting to so 
bad a pass, that the government had to interfere 
and prevent this spirit of speculation : laws were 
passed forbidding more than 200 francs to be paid 
for a tulip. That sum has continued to be given 
for some fancy sorts in Holland, to this day, hut 
as a general rule, the price has been very mucb 
reduced. In England, we understand that even 
now a large and first-class collection is valued 
as high as five thousand dollars, sometimes more. 
But there is no sense 
in the indulgence of these 
extravagant fancies. The 
poor as well as the rich 
may have a splendid as¬ 
sortment at very little 
expense. And how gay 
a scene does a fine bed 
of tulips present! The 
form of the flower, its 
gorgeousness of color, 
and the variety of its 
markings and tints fur¬ 
nish one of the finest 
floral displays of the 
whole year. 
Less splendid, perhaps, 
but not less pleasing to 
the eye of taste is the 
hyacinth. It has almost 
every color and every 
shade, from fiery red to 
pale rose; from pale 
blue to blackish purple ; 
from the faintest straw- 
color to a reddis’h salmon 
hue. Then, there are 
whites, with red, blue, 
and purple eyes ; some, 
again, are striped, some 
shaded, and some tipped 
with green. The fra¬ 
grance of the hyacinth is 
not its least attraction ; 
and then it is perfectly hardy and very easy ot 
cultivation. Plainly, too, there are varieties 
enough for every taste ; the Dutch catalogues 
number upwards of two thousand sorts. 
The treatment for the tulip and hyacinth is 
similar, and is as follows : Choose an open, 
moderately dry situation, take away the top soil, 
if very stiffand poor, and bring in better; or if 
good, let it remain and be further improved. The 
best sort of earth for these bulbs is a mixture of 
rotted turf and sand, and old cow-dung. If a lit¬ 
tle leaf-mold is added, it will be all the better. 
Mix these several ingredients thoroughly, and 
then rake and level smooth. In bu/ing bulbs, 
select those only that are bright and sound. Let 
no seedsman palm off spotted, or soft and half- 
rotted roots upon you. Refuse roots are often 
thrown upon the market, and the uninitiated are 
imposed upon. Good bulbs having been obtained, 
set them four inches deep, and eight inches apart. 
It is well to put an inch of sand around each bull). 
The different colors should be arranged with 
some care, for the sake of pleasing contrasts. If 
one wishes (he best possible effect from his bed, 
he should make a plan of it on paper beforehand, 
laying down on it every root with its name and 
color, arranging them according to known laws 
of combination. He will then know just how his 
bed will look. After the bulbs are set, nothing 
more will be required for the present, except to 
cover them late in the Fall with leaves or a few 
inches of old manure. This, of course, should be 
removed as soon as the frost is out in Spring. 
The tulip has generally a stem strong enough 
