50 
COMPANION TO THE FLORAL MAGAZINE. 
those produced upon the second plan do not show any sign above ground 
of their existence below. Some varieties of the Hyacinth succeed best 
when treated in the first way, and others appear to prefer the second. 
For example, the well-known kind named “ Waterloo” does best when 
propagated in the second way, and I believe it is generally multiplied in 
this manner by the growers at Haarlem. 
The time required for these young bulbs to come to maturity, that is, 
to be fit for the market, varies with the different varieties. Four or five 
years is about the average time required by those produced by the first- 
mentioned plan, and five or six years for the smaller ones produced by 
the second. Every year during this period they are taken up in the 
summer and replanted in the autumn. 
By Seeds .—As the time required to bring Hyacinths to maturity from 
seed is so dong,—seven or eight years, according to the variety,—the 
propagation about Flaarlem is managed by offsets as I have already de¬ 
scribed. Indeed, were the time shorter, the propagation of the existing 
kinds would have to be done by offsets, as seedlings would not reproduce 
kinds identical with their parents. Every grower, however, is anxious to 
obtain new and superior varieties, and these can be had only from seed. 
Hyacinth seeds ripen in the end of May or beginning of June, and are 
usually sown in October. Large pots or pans are used for the purpose, 
and the seedlings which spring up are allowed to remain without being 
moved for three or four years. At the end of that time they are taken 
out of the seed-pans and treated like the other bulbs. Some sorts show 
a weak bloom about the third or fourth year, but four or five years more 
are required to bring the bulb to maturity. And then, after all this time, 
if the grower gets one out of a hundred, distinct and worth propagating, 
he is considered peculiarly fortunate. 
Hybridizing in that certain way with regard to results which is under¬ 
stood and practised by our florists with Pelargoniums, Petunias, etc., does 
not appear to be much practised with the Hyacinth at Haarlem. Indeed 
the long time required before the results can be even guessed at is not 
encouraging, and a longer time after that is necessary to produce a stock 
for the market. We have seen that three or four years must elapse be¬ 
fore a weak bloom is produced to give an indication of the nature of the 
seedling, and as many more must pass by before the plant arrives at ma¬ 
turity. Then, if it be really good and worthy of propagation, the fortu¬ 
nate raiser possesses only one bulb ! Years after that must pass by before 
he can have a sufficient quantity to offer it for sale.* It may therefore 
take the time of an ordinary life to raise a Hyacinth from seed and have 
a stock sufficient to place it on the market .—Robert Fortune , in ‘ Gar¬ 
deners’ Chronicle’ 
# Some kinds are much more difficult to increase than others. It is not unusual 
for a variety to remain stationary for a time from some unknown cause, and then, 
all at once, make a fresh start. It does not follow, therefore, that two new kinds 
offered for sale in the same year have been raised about the same time. 
