334 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, March 2, 1858. 
This is coming close to Mr. Kidd, and Mr. Latter's way 
of airing Cucumbers iu winter. 
The old rule of “ one to six ” recurs to one on hearing 
the niceties of ventilation; that is, for one inch of top 
air, give six inches at the bottom ventilators, and never 
depart from that rule, in winter and spring forcing, 
until you are forced yourself out of it, by sun heat 
rising beyond the heat which the plant, or plants, you 
are forcing can endure. 
Hyacinths, Tulips, Narcissuses, Crocuses, Azaleas, 
Hydrangeas, Pinks, Cloves, Cytisus ramosus, Acacia 
armata, seedling Cinerarias, and China Primroses, 
Deutzia gracilis, Dielytra spectabilis, and all such 
established favourities, force from February without 
any bottom heat, or plunging, and will not suffer in 
moist sun heat up to 90° for two or three hours daily, 
provided the night air, or heat, is as low as 50° in mild 
weather, and 55° when the frost is sharp. 
No plants were ever forced better than those I saw 
then in the Palace, and that was the treatment they 
received. 
The Hyacinths are the best of the old cheap kinds, 
they are potted in large 48-pots, or small 32’s, in good 
holding yellow loam; and the bulbs are entirely on the 
surface of the soil, the leaves of all the offsets they 
make are pinched off, as soon and as often as they can 
be laid hold on; but the bottom, or bulb part of the 
offset, is never touched; the wound which the separa¬ 
tion from the old bulb would cause, might kill, or very 
much injure, the old bulb in the dead of winter. The 
old Waterloo Hyacinth throws up four flower stems 
from one good bulb, by this treatment; sometimes three, 
and very seldom less than two, as may be seen round 
the basin of the crystal fountain all the spring. The 
Waterloo is the highest coloured one there—a crimson 
in fact—far better in colour than we generally see it; 
but the immense body of fresh mild air, inclosed by 
the Crystal Palace, brings out colours, and the tint of 
leaves, far beyond any method within our knowledge. 
Most of those very old Camellias, and Rhododendrons, 
were half dead, or three parts burnt up at the roots, 
three years ago, when they were planted here; and 
many of them would have died outright,in small houses, 
in a few years ; but what splendid specimens they are 
making already! 
Groot Voorst is the next Hyacinth after Waterloo. 
It is a deep blush thus early. The best double whites 
are Alamode and Anna Maria; and the best single 
whites are Grande Vainqueur and Grande Blanche Im- 
periale; best single blue, Pmicus, a deep blue; Nim¬ 
rod, light blue, one of the very best; Porcelain Sceptre, 
pale blue ; and Orondates, all exquisite blues, which 
may now be seen and judged in the Crystal Palace. 
Also, two kinds of pale yellow: of the early forcers of 
that colour LaPluie d’ Or is the best; 2eadiAlida Jacoha, 
nearly as good a yellow; and both yellows force re¬ 
markably well, and early. For a real Peach-coloured 
Hyacinth, Acteur is the best, and the greatest favourite 
here, as may be seen from the quantities of it in the 
vases all over the place. 
i Tulips. —They force none but double Tulips, and 
they do not consider the single or double Van Thols 
worth potting, much less worth forcing. They are 
really aristocratic in all their ideas of forcing flowers, 
and the kinds to force—only they do not like to pay 
dear for their whistle—for they keep to the good old 
things, and buy them every year in very large quan¬ 
tities. The splendid large yellow and red double 
Tulip, in all the vases, is the old Tournesol. The best 
of that colour, Bex Rubrorum, deep blood red, and 
wonderfully big for February ; and Imperatrum Ru- 
brum, or simply Imperator, is almost an improvement 
on Rex Rubrorum ; Gloria Solis, red and yellow, nearly 
scarlet and yellow ; Duke of York, alias Due Kaiser, 
white and red, but not quite so early as the rest; and 
Marriage de ma Fille, also white and red feathered, 
one of the oldest favourites of the writer. Three, four, 
or five, of these double Tulips to be put into one pot, 
according to the w r ay the pots are to be used wRen the 
Tulips are in bloom. 
In making up baskets, or vases, in the drawing¬ 
room, say just now r , do you not find the bother of having 
all the pots of one size ? Hence the reason for using 
two or three different sized pots for Tulips, and other 
spring bulbs: three Tulips for small 48-pots, four for 
large 48-pots, and five Tulips in small 32’s. I have 
seen five great Hyacinths in one pot, a large upright 
24; also, four, and three, and two, in smaller sizes, but 
here, at the Crystal Palace, they put their Hyacinths 
singly in pots, in order to suit their arrangements of 
them, wRen in bloom; and I venture to say, that 
spring flowers were never better arranged, for real 
effect, than they are, at this moment, in the vases, and 
marble basins round the crystal fountain, at the Crystal 
Palace. 
Soliel d' Or and Grand Monarque are the two kinds 
of Narcissuses now in bloom there—a yellow and a 
v r hite kind. 
Now, let us just see, on paper, howthey are arranged, 
which is but like having the “ bill of fare,” instead of the 
dinner, after all is said. Well, the “ bill of fare” stands 
thus:—There are four marble vases, in four marble 
basins, on each side of the crystal fountain; they are in 
match pairs across the wmter, and the four at the w r est- 
end. reflect, or correspond, with the four at the east-end 
—that is the foundation of the system. The first pair of 
vases at the extreme w r est, have an Auracaria excelsa, 
or Norfolk Island Pine, about thirty inches high, in 
the centre of each ; the pots being hid by moss. Then 
three pots of Dielytra spectabilis, at equal distances, 
“all round”; three pots of Hyacinths, ditto; three 
of double Tulips, ditto ; four of Crocuses, ditto ; and 
four of China Primroses ; and all the pots hid en¬ 
tirely in moss, rising a little from the edge of the vase 
to the centre Conifer. The green moss balances the 
white glare of the marble, and the effect is marvellously 
good, at a little distance. The bottom, or basin, is 
filled with four circular rows of pots, not in moss, and 
to counteract the glare of the marble, and to bring out 
more prominently the beauty of the flowers, the first 
row ot pots next the pedestal, or centre, is of fine- 
foliaged plants, all of one size, and one style of growth, 
without flowers. The kinds are little Epacris ancl 
heath-like plants, twelve to fifteen inches high. The 
next row is all of different kinds of Hyacinths, already 
mentioned. The third row is of flowering and fine- 
leaved plants, one of each “ turn about,” consisting 
ol double Tulips, Hyacinths, Dielytras, Azaleas, and 
Primulas. And the outside row is of Crocuses, Lilies 
ol the Valley, very dwarf Tulips, and here and there 
a fine-leaved plant, just sufficient to balance flowers, 
leaves, and white marble. Without the fine-leaved 
plants these spring bulbs, in a mass, would deaden the 
sight, in the face of so much marble, and the sun 
playing on the water all round. While in a drawing¬ 
room, with w r arm colours, mirrors, and gilding, or any 
other style, the “furnishing” with flowers would 
need to be done, perhaps, diff erently ; but, in all cases, 
a certain amount of green leaves, in addition to green 
moss, would heighten the effect of the fknvers, by 
contrast. 
The second pair of vases are thus set off—a match 
of tw o Araucaria Bidwillii, from thirty to thirty-six 
inches high, to match the tw~o excelsas, in the first 
pair, one in the centre of each vase, and the pots hid. 
Round these are Dielytras, mixed Hyacinths, yellow 
and white Narcissuses, double Tulips, and China Prim¬ 
roses, arranged as in the first pair. The basins below 
