Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1879-02-15
Hyacinths.

The hyacinth is, perhaps, the most
popular and universally cultivated OF
all dubious flowers. The cultivation OF
this bulb for commerce is confined to
Harlem (Holland) and its neighbor-
hood-hundreds of acres being entirely
occupied by it. A field of hyacinths in
full bloom is described as sight gor-
geous in the extreme. Need we be sur
prised at its great popularity, when we
consider it is of the easiest culture, per-
fectly hardy, has delicacy and variety
of coloring, and delicious perfume.
It is not we'll to commence too soon
with glasses: from the beginning OF Oc-
tober up to December is the best time.
Fill the glass with water, train water is
the best, place in the bulbs so that the
base of each barely touches the water.
and put them in a dark, dry place /;
when the roots are about two or three
inches long, they may be brought to
the light, but not too suddenly ex-
posed; as the foliage ana trusses ad-
vance, give all the air possible, other
wise they will be drawn up too weak ;
the glasses should be kept filed with
water. and should be turned frequently
to prevent ill -shaped plants.
Hyacinths to flower in spring and
for succession, should be planted in
October, November, and December /;
the best compost for them is one-half
turfy fibrous loan we'll rotted, third
part good old decomposed manure,
fourth part fine rotted leaf mould to
every barrowful of the above compost,
add one peck of clean, sharp sand.
The sized pots generally used are five
and six.inch. Hyacinths, as we'll as all
other plants, require good drainage,
therefore, place about an inch of
potsherd in the bottom OF the pot, with
layer of rotten COW manure, fill up
the pot with the compost, with little
sharp sand on the top, on which place
the bulb, pressing it firmly down, fill
ing round with the soil just to leave the
crown in sight. When this is done,
give them good soaking of water, tax
ing care to let them have plenty of time
to drain before plunging choose q
hard, dry place out of doors to stand
them on, covering them over six or
eight inches with old tan or ashes, leav-
ing them thus till the pots are we'll
kll1oA Wall IOUtS uucu IcIuoNC tAOAA w
pit or frame gradually exposing
them to light; after which, place them
in warm room or house. Attention
must be paid to watering and as the
foliage and trusses advance, occasional
waterings OF liquid manure is very es.
sential. When the blooms begin to ex-
! pand, the plants may be taken to cool
room, where there is plenty of light.
Hyacinths will succeed in any we'll.
drained soil. II of worry adhesive
nature, add two or three inches of sharp
sand and about the same quantity OF
we'll decayed manure then dig the soil
eighteen inches deep, we'll mixing the
sand and manure with the soil. Sandy
loans require nothing more than the
addition of manure and deep digging.
Plant, when the soil is dry, in rows Of
about nine or ten inches apart, and q
foot between the rows. The crown OF
the bulb should be three or four inches
under the surface of the soil. Before
severe freezing, cover the bed with
three or four inches of old tan, hops,
or short litter, to exclude frosts. This,
however, should be removed early in
spring.-John Saul.