COMPANION TO THE FLORAL MAGAZINE. 
49 
PROPAGATION OF THE HYACINTH IN HOLLAND. 
Propagation by Offsets .—The Hyacinth propagates itself naturally by 
offsets and by seeds. But both these operations are too slow to supply 
the great demand which exists for this flower at Haarlem, and hence 
art has been brought to nature’s aid. To induce the bulbs to throw out 
offsets, two methods are adopted, and both of these are curious and most 
interesting. One mode is by making three, or sometimes four deep cuts 
across the bottom of the bulb. 
AT hen the knife has gone deep enough, the bulb, which is plump and full 
of juice, emits a peculiar crackling sound, and this is a guide to the operator. 
The wounds inflicted in this manner destroy the germ of the flower-stem 
already formed for the following year, and divide the lower portion of the 
bulb into six parts, or, in the case of larger bulbs, into eight parts. After 
this operation is performed, the bulbs are laid on the beds and covered 
with dry sand. They remain in this position for ten or twelve days, and 
are then taken into the drying-room and spread out on its shelves. Here 
they are kept until the autumn, when they are planted like other Hya¬ 
cinths in the open ground. During the following winter and spring, 
young bulbs are formed in considerable numbers at the edges of the cuts. 
These young ones are taken up at the proper season, removed from the 
parent and planted in nursery-beds, where they are treated in all respects 
like the older Hyacinths. 
The second method practised in propagation differs from the first, 
both in the manner of operating on the bulb and in its results. A slice 
of the under part of the bulb in this case is cut or scooped out, and the 
circular layers of w T hich it is formed are exposed to the view. 
The bulbs prepared in this manner require much more careful treat¬ 
ment afterwards than those which are cut in the other way. They are 
dried in the open air before they are taken into the drying-room, and 
they must be looked at frequently afterwards, as they are very apt to be¬ 
come mouldy or to rot. It is sometimes necessary to mix a little dry 
sand amongst them in order to preserve them. Extremes of dryness or 
of moisture must be carefully avoided. In August or September they 
are planted in the open beds, and remain there until the following sum¬ 
mer, during which period a crop of young bulbs has been formed on the 
under side of the old ones. These are taken off in autumn and planted 
out singly, in nurseries, like the others. 
There are two or three curious circumstances connected with these 
methods of producing young Hyacinths which are worthy of notice. The 
bulbs treated in the way first mentioned produce young ones larger in 
size but fewer in number than those which are treated in the second way. 
In the first instance the bulbs are formed at the edges of the cuts, while 
in the second they come out all over the under surface. Again, the bulbs 
formed by the first method send up leaves during the first spring, while 
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