THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, August 3, 1858. 
277 
and the innermost leaf is found the main bud which is to 
produce the next year’s blossom. It has many scales ex¬ 
ternally, of which the outermost stands with its back to the 
peduncle. The succeeding leaves are still very small. There 
is also frequently a second bud as large as the first in the axil 
of the penultimate leaf. In this case the plant bears in the 
following year two spikes of blossom, of which each, since 
they belong to different axes, is surrounded by its own tuft of 
leaves. This must not be confounded with the case in which 
two flower* stalks spring from the same tuft close to each other; 
it will then be generally found that the second, which expands 
later, stands together with the young main bud in the axil of 
the uppermost leaf. 
Fig. 1. 
Fig, 2, 
Ilyacinthus Orientalis, 
Fig. 1. Bulb with the outer 
sheaths removed, just 
after flowering. 
a. base of sheaths whose 
upper margin has pe¬ 
rished, leaving a scar. 
c. leaves cut across. 
d. peduncle. 
Fig. 2, All the sheaths are re¬ 
moved below the last 
year’s peduncle, 
b. scales above the peduncle, 
e. last year’s peduncle. 
After the time of flowering the basal portions of this year’s 
leaves extend and become broader and more fleshy, and the 
lamina dies off at a definite point. This year’s roots, also, 
and the lower part of the main axis perish, and separate 
easily from the still vegetating portions of the bulb. By 
autumn the young bulb has nearly attained its full growth, 
and the new flower-stem is visible; new roots also are sent 
forth at this period. 
On the main axis of a bulb which has blown several years 
in succession, we find, in general, without reckoning the dead 
and dying sheaths, the formations of two previous years 
(I. ancl II.), of this year (HI-), and the commencement of 
that of the year following (IV.). This year’s plant (III.) at 
the time of flowering has not absorbed the contents of the 
leaves destined for nutriment, situated on the two-year-old 
portion of the axis (I.), not to mention that of the previous 
year (II.). In this it differs from the bulb of Ornithogalum 
nutans , where, at the time of flowering, the scales of the two- 
year-old portion of the axis are exhausted. In every year’s 
growth of the main axis, many new sheaths are formed (which 
serve as reservoirs of nutriment, and at a later period, when 
the tips are dead, cannot be distinguished from the sheaths 
which have arisen from the basal portion of the leaves), and 
then numerous leaves ; whereas in Ornithogalum nutans there 
are only leaves, in which respect the Hyacinths have more 
resemblance to Ornithogalum umbellatum , where at least the 
first leaf of a new axis assumes the form of a scale. The 
main axis of II. is the lateral axis of 1.; III. the lateral axis 
of II., and IV. of III. The simple roots do not spring from 
the axis of the blooming plant as in Gagea, Fritillaria, &c., 
but from an older part of the main axis. The offsets are 
found especially in the axils of the lower sheaths, and consist 
equally with the primary bulb of one or more sheaths, which 
enclose one or more leaves. 
(To be continued.) 
SYLPHON FOR EMPTYING, AND FOUNTAIN 
IN, AN AQUARIUM. 
Not having been a constant reader of The Cottage 
Gakdener, 1 know not if the plan I adopt for syphoning my 
aquarium is new or not; yet I believe it is ; and, if so, I think 
it may be of some advantage to those whose only mode of 
emptying their tanks, is b^ sucking out the air, and sometimes 
getting a taste of the dirty water. The plan is simple and 
cheap, and is as follows : —Take a piece of quarter-incli com¬ 
position gas-pipe, Id. per foot, or gutta-percha pipe, and fix 
in the end a small gas tap, price lOd. Draw out the air, and 
when enough is out, turn the tap. The syphon is then left 
full, and only requires the tap to be turned at any time, to 
draw off what is required. 
If there were two taps, one in the flow, and one in the 
waste pipe of the fountain described at page 209, it would ma¬ 
terially add to the value of it, as, by turning them on or off, 
it could be used at any time.— John Faikthokn. 
HORTICULTURAL NOTES MADE IN THE 
NEIGHBOURHOOD OF MONTMORENCY, 
DUKING A SECOND VISIT. 
You were pleased to intimate that a few more notes on 
my second visit to this neighbourhood might be acceptable 
to your readers. As it is a labour of love with me, I have 
much pleasure in giving you the details of my observations. 
I was there from the tenth to the 13th of July, two months 
after my former visit; yet, to my surprise, I did not perceive 
that the Vines had progressed more than with us in the vi¬ 
cinity of London ; in fact, I have Grapes, cultivated on 
Hoare’s system (the long-rod), in my own garden, quite as 
large as any I saw; and yet the growers persist in telling me 
that the Madeleine will be fit for the Paris market in a 
month. ’Tis true my private friends say that it is invariably 
picked before it is ripe. Under any circumstances, it is evi¬ 
dent that the months of July and August are of more value 
than with us in bringing fruit to perfection. I saw no 
symptom of disease anywhere, and everything promised a 
most abundant crop. In all gardens, whether belonging to 
nurserymen or to amateurs, pinching at the bud beyond the 
bunch was the plan followed, but in the vineyards never ; the 
peasants argument being, that they dare not subject them¬ 
selves to the destructive effects of hail, which they have in 
great dread. 
Your clever correspondent, Mr. Beaton, could tell them 
why their system was the better one, for more reasons than 
that. They let the shoots run to the heights of their stakes, 
and then top them with shears. These stakes are not of 
uniform length, some being five feet high, whilst others are 
only two. 
A few words may probably be interesting on this early 
Grape, the Madeleine , or Morillon hdtif, as it is also called. 
It yields small bunches and small Grapes, but they are ex¬ 
cellent when fully ripe; and ripe ones must be found for the 
feast of the Assumption, on the 15th August; because, in the 
Catholic processions on that day, it is customary to place a 
bunch in the hand of the Virgin. The fruit is of a deep 
violet colour, but there is a white one, bearing the same 
name, of inferior quality. It is an abundant bearer, and 
Monsieur Carlos Foret, of Margency (my host and personal 
friend), made his first gathering last year during the month 
of August, after which, to his great surprise, the Vines again 
flowered, and he gathered an excellent second crop in the 
months of October and November. Something still more re¬ 
markable, however, remains to be told. In the month of 
December, when he left for his Paris residence, there were 
still bunches of small green Grapes upon them. The alleys 
