March 27, 1886. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
469 
I do not intend to treat in this paper on the propa¬ 
gation of these plants, but strong-growing kinds can be 
raised by cuttings, the weaker-growing ones by grafting 
on to some strong variety. Plants for training should 
be always grafted on a tall stock, so that the plants 
can be tied down into shape afterwards. Young plants 
require very liberal treatment at the commencement, to 
induce them to make as much growth as possible in one 
season, and this can be accomplished by giving a good 
moist heat, and stopping the shoots occasionally to 
induce them to break and form nice close heads or 
bushes. 
After Azaleas have finished flowering, if they require 
it, they should be potted into a mixture of peat of the 
best quality and silver sand. The potting should be 
made very firm—a little extra care and time is well 
spent in doing this work well—and at no time give the 
plant too large a shift, as they always flower best when 
thoroughly pot-bound. One great error young men 
make when commencing to pot this kind of plant, is not 
seeing that the soil is rammed well to the bottom of 
Doubi.e Hyacinth. 
the pot all round the old ball; if this is not particularly 
attended to, no good results can be expected from the 
labour undertaken. 
Place the plants in a growing temperature of 65° to 
70°, and ply the syringe freely night and morning to 
induce a free growth, and also to prevent thrip, which 
is the plants greatest enemy ; should this pest appear 
amongst them, a few good strong doses of fumigating 
is as good as anything to hold them in check, as this 
remedy has the advantage of working into all corners 
and crevices where the insect is likely to hide. The 
growing season can be prolonged till August, but all 
growth should be complete by this time, so that the 
plants may be removed to cooler quarters or else into the 
open air to mature the young wood and set the flower 
buds. If the plants have been grown under any shade 
they will require inuring to the sun’s rays, but I do not 
recommend shading for Azaleas at any time (only 
whilst they are in flower), providing you can keep them 
from having the foliage burnt by the sun’s rays. 
When not shaded the growth is much stronger and 
firmer, and from such growth the better flowers must 
come than from a weak and puny growth made under a 
heavy shade. The plants will require getting into 
their winter quarters by the end of September as they 
will not stand too much frost, jind the earliest flower¬ 
ing varieties can he placed in an intermediate house to 
gradually bring them on for flowering at Christmas 
time ; by introducing a few at a time into this house 
a succession of flower may be kept up. 
It is not advisable to begin training the plants in 
too young a state, But give them a few years growth, 
and bring into shape as much as possible by pinching 
the points where they show a tendency to get away. 
Double varieties are extremely useful, especially white, 
and should be grown largely where the flowers are 
wanted for bouquet purposes. The single varieties are 
more useful for making showy conservatory plants. 
Weak manure water may be given to the plants if they 
are pot-bound, both during the growing season and for 
a few weeks before they come into flower, it assists 
them in a marked degree, and adds materially to the 
staying power of the flowers. Azalea amcena and all 
its varieties are useful for forcing into early bloom, and 
where room can be afforded these varieties should be 
grown. The number of varieties of this plant now 
catalogued is enormous, but many of the varieties 
that have been sent out for some years past are great 
improvements on the older sorts. Any attempt to 
mention any particular varieties as the best, will, 
perhaps, be rather out of place. I should, therefore, 
recommend would-be growers to visit some of 
the spring shows that will now be taking place in 
London and nearly all the large provincial towns, and 
select the varieties that suits their taste best. — IV. G. 
Hyacinths in a Vase. 
HYACINTHS. 
The annual spring shows have commenced, and 
bulbs are as abundantly exhibited as usual ; the stately 
and fragrant Hyacinth taking a prominent place 
amongst them, though the Tulips are more brilliant 
in colour. The Hyacinth is a general favourite, and 
enormous quantities are imported to this country every 
year to meet the wide-spread demand, indeed the 
number cultivated seems to be increasing still, although 
the plant has been so long known. Numbers of pro¬ 
vincial societies now hold spring shows at which they 
give substantial money prizes for Hyacinths, and the 
competition is usually keen, beautiful displays being 
produced both by amateurs and nurserymen. Already 
exhibitions have been held at Liverpool, Bristol, and 
in London at South Kensington and Regent’s Park, 
which have amply proved how popular these plants are 
with all, while the principal metropolitan, and other 
nurserymen also have home displays that will render 
their nurseries bright for some time to come. One 
great advantage these bulbs possess, they are most 
easily grown, even the magnificent specimens seen at 
shows do not require a tenth of the skill in production 
that numberless other plants need, to obtain them in 
exhibition form. The principal point is to secure fine 
well matured heavy bulbs, and those who wish to have 
the best should order early, and not stint the price, for 
unless a really good bulb is procured to start with, no 
after-treatment will ensure the desired result, namely, 
massive spikes and well developed bells. Of course 
much can be done by good culture to assist them, or 
perhaps we should say that it is easy to spoil fine bulbs 
by bad treatment, but we must reserve some observa¬ 
tions upon this matter to a more seasonable opportunity, 
the present is the time for admiring the plants, and 
noting the most effective varieties. 
It would be unnecessary to review the whole history 
of the Hyacinth, but a glance at a few of the leading 
facts may be interesting. Everyone knows that the 
cultivated varieties have been obtained from the Hya- 
cinthus orientalis, which is found wild in the Levant 
and eastern parts of Europe or Asia, but few who saw 
a spike of the wild form would suppose it to be the pro¬ 
genitor of our garden Hyacinth. It is not more imposing 
than our native Hyacinthus non-scriptus or Scilla nu¬ 
tans, but the skill of the cultivator has worked wonders 
with this as with other plants, and we now have grand 
spikes and large bell-like flowers, widely different 
from the early forms. It is not certainly known when 
the Hyacinth first made its appearance in England, but 
it was probably early in the sixteenth century, by a 
company of merchants who were commissioned by 
Queen Elizabeth to visit Persia on a silk trading expe- 
Single Hyacinth. 
dition, but it was jmore generally grown in Holland 
before it was much known in this country. It was in¬ 
cluded by Gerard in his “ Herball ” at the close of that 
century, and he refers to it as if it was then v*ell known. 
To the efforts of the Dutch florists, however, its popu¬ 
larity is due, for not content with growing the bulbs 
largely, they commenced raising new varieties from 
seed, soon forming an imposing list of variations. 
For a considerable time the varieties were all single, 
but in the eighteenth century a Dutch florist, named 
Peter Yoehelm, succeeded in obtaining some with 
double flowers, and whether these were the first or not 
they attracted the most attention, one entitled the 
King of Great Britain having realised the enormous 
price of £100 per bulb. Since then the prices have 
fallen, and the numbers of fine varieties have wonder¬ 
fully increased, so that sixpence is regarded as a good 
price for any but the newest varieties. In Holland the 
cultivation of these bulbs for sale is an important in¬ 
dustry in the neighbourhood of Haarlem and Overveen, 
hundreds of acres being devoted to these plants alone, 
and the numbers of bulbs exported amount to hundreds 
of thousands.— H. 0. 
_ . •» - . 
♦ 
Royal Horticultural Society.— The Council 
flavin 0 * decided to receive Provincial Horticultural and 
FlorafSocieties into association with the Royal Horti¬ 
cultural Society, upon an annual subscription of five 
guineas, they offer them the following privileges One 
Silver Knightian Medal; one Silver Banksian Medal ; 
one Bronze Knightian Medal; and one Bronze Banksian 
Medal, to be given as prizes at the Shows of the 
Provincial Society and one member s Ticket for the 
Secretary, and twelve single tickets, admitting ■ the 
bearer to any one meeting or show of the Society. 
