6io HYACI 
beautiful, and worthy to be preferved in collections of 
good flowers ; and it has been the want of (kill in the 
management of thefe noble flowers, which has occafioned 
the ill fuccefs molt people have had with them in Eng¬ 
land, whereby they have been neglefted, fuppofing their 
roots to degenerate after they have flowered in England, 
which is a great miflake; for, were the roots managed 
with the fame art as has been praftil'ed in Holland, they 
would thrive nearly as well in England as there or elfe- 
where. The foil in which thefe flowers fucceed bell, is 
a light, Tandy, frelh, rich, earth, which may be compofed 
after the following manner : Take half frefh earth from a 
common, or pafture land, which is chiefly of a Tandy 
loam ; this fhould be taken off the furface, or not above 
eight or nine inches deep at molt; and, if you take the 
turf or green-fward with it, it will ftill be better, pro¬ 
vided you have time to let it rot before it is ufed; to 
this you fhould add a fourth part of fea-fand, and the 
other fourth part of rotten cow-dung ; mix thefe well to¬ 
gether, and call it into a heap, where it may remain un¬ 
til you ufe it, obferving to turn it over once in three 
weeks or a month, that it may be well mixed. If this 
compoft is made two years before it is ufed, it will be 
much-the better; but, if you are obliged to ufe it fooner, 
then it fhould be oftener turned, that the parts may the 
better unite. This foil fhould be laid two feet deep on 
the beds which are defigned for hyacinths ; and, if you 
lay a little rotten cow-dung or tanners’ bark at the bot¬ 
tom, which may be within reach of the fibres, but fhould 
by no means touch the bulb, it will be better. If the 
foil is very wet where thefe beds are made, you fhould 
raife them ten or twelve inches above the furface of the 
ground ; but, if it be dry, they need not be raifed above 
three or four inches. 
The manner of preparing the beds is as follows: Firft, 
take all the former old earth out of the bed to the depth 
you intend, which fhould be near three feet; then fpread, 
l'ome rotten neats-dung or tan in the bottom, about fix 
inches thick, laying it very level ; upon this you fhould 
lay the above-mentioned earth two feet thick, levelling 
it very even; then fcore out the diftances for the roots, 
which fhould be eight inches fquare, in ftraight rows each 
■way; after which, place your roots exactly in the fquares, 
obferving to fet the bottom part downward ; then cover 
the roots fix inches deep with the fame prepared earth, 
being very careful in doing this not to difplace any of 
the roots ; and, if t'n.e tops of thefe beds are made a little 
rounding, to flioot off the wet, it will be of fervice in 
jnoift ground, provided the middle of the beds be not 
.made too high, which is a fault the other way. 
The bell feafon for planting thefe roots is the middle 
©r latter end of September, according to the earlinefs or 
latenefs of the feafon, or the weather when it happens; 
but never plant them when the ground is extremely dry, 
unlefs there be a profpeft of l'ome rain foon after ; for, if 
the weather lhould continue dry for a connderable time 
after, the roots will receive a fnouldinefs. which wiil cer-* 
tainly deftroy them. The beds will require no farther 
care until the froft comes on very fevere, at which time 
they fhould have rotten tan fpread over them about four 
inches thick; and, if the alleys on each fide of the bed 
are filled up, either with rotten tan, dung, orfand, it will 
prevent the froft from penetrating the ground on each 
fide to the roots, and fec.ure them from being deftroyed ; 
but,- when the winters prove very fevere,. it will alio be 
proper to have fome peafe-haulm, ftraw, or fuch-like co¬ 
vering, laid over them, which will keep out the froft bet¬ 
ter than, mats; and, lying hollow, will admit the air to 
the furface of the ground, and alfo permit the exhalations 
to pafs oft', whereby the^arth will , remain dry, and pre¬ 
vent the roots from rotting, which has 1 often happened 
when the beds have been too clofely covered. But you 
mult obferve to take off this light covering whenever the 
V/Cat her is mild, and only let it continue on in very hard- 
.felts; for, where the beds, are covered with tan or fea- 
N T H U S. 
coal allies, no common froft can penetrate through, To the 
coverings are ufelefs, except in very fevere froft; for a 
finall froft cannot injure the roots before the green leaves- 
appear above ground, which is feldom before the begin¬ 
ning of February, at which time the beds muft be arched- 
over with hoops, that they may be covered either with mats, 
canvas, or fome other light covering, to prevent the froft: 
from injuring the buds as they arif'e above ground ; but 
thefe coverings muft be conftantly taken off every day- 
when the weather is mild, otherwife the flower-ftems will 
be drawn up to a great height, and become very weak, 
and the foot-ftalks of the flowers will be long and {len¬ 
der, and f'o rendered incapable of fupporting the bells ; 
which is a great difadvantage to the flowers, for one of 
their greateft beauties confilts in the regular difpofition 
of their bells. When thefe hoops are fixed over the beds, 
the rotten tan fhould be molt of it taken off them ; ,in do¬ 
ing of which, great care fhould be taken not to bruife or 
injure the leaves of the hyacinths,, which by that time 
will be breaking out of the ground with the.flower-ftem : 
therefore the tan fhould be'removed by the hands ; or, if 
any inftfument is made ufe of in the doing of it, there 
muft be great caution bow it is performed. 
When the Items of the flowers are advanced to their 
height, before the flowers are expanded, you fhould place a 
fhort ftick down by each root, to which, with a wire formed, 
into a hoop, the Item of the flowers fhould be fattened, 
to fupport them from falling ; otherwife, when the bells 
are fully expanded, their weight will incline them to the- 
ground, efpecially if they are not fereened from the wind 
and rain. During their feafon of flowering they fhould 
be covered in the heat of the day from the fun, as alfo 
from all heavy rains; but they fhould be permitted to re¬ 
ceive all gentle fhowers, as alfo the morning and evening 
fun ; but, if the nights are frofty, they muft be conftantly 
defended therefrom. With this management you may 
continue your hyacinths in beauty at leaft one whole 
month, and fometimes more, according to their ftreno'th . 
or the favourablenefs of the feafon. When their flowers.- 
are quite, decayed, and the tops of their leaves begin to 
change their colour, you muft carefully raife the roots 
out of the ground with a narrow, fpade, or fome other 
handy inftrument; this is what the Dutch gardeners term 
lifting of them ; in doing, this, the inftrument muft be 
carefully thruft down by the fide‘of the root, being cau¬ 
tious not to bruife or injure it, as alfo to put it below the 
bottom of the root; then, by forcing the inftrument on 
one fide, the fibres of the root are raifed and feparated 
from the ground. The defign of this is to prevent their 
receiving any more nourilhment from the ground; for,, 
by imbibing too much moifture at this feafon, the roots , 
frequently rot after they are taken up. About a fort¬ 
night after this operation, the roots lhould be entirelv 
taken out of the ground, and then carried to beds fituated 
where the morning fun only lhines upon them; the earth 
of the beds lhould be loofe and raifed into a fharp ridge, 
laying the roots into it in a horizontal pofition, with their 
leaves hanging out, by which means a great part of the 
moifture contained in their thick fucculent ftalks and 
leaves will evaporate; which,, if it were permitted to re¬ 
turn back to the roots, would caufe them to rot and de¬ 
cay after they are taken up, which has been the general 
defeft of molt of the hyacinths in England. In this po¬ 
fition the roots lhould remain until the. green leaves are. 
entirely decayed, which perhaps may be in three weeks 
time. This is what the Dutch gardeners term the ripen¬ 
ing of their roots, becaufe by this method the roots be¬ 
come firm, and the outer cover is fmooth, and of a bright, 
purple colour; whereas thoi'e roqts which are permitted 
to remain undilturbed, till the leaves and ftalks are quite 
decayed, will be large, fpongy, and their outer coats will 
be of a pale colour ; for the Items of many of thele flowers 
are very large, and contain a great quantity of moifture, 
which, if fullered to return into the roots,.will infallibly 
caufe many of them to periffi. After they arc fo ripened, 
you 
