File:Cyclopedia of American horticulture, comprising suggestions for cultivation of horticultural plants, descriptions of the species of fruits, vegetables, flowers and ornamental plants sold in the United (20204298343).jpg

Title: Cyclopedia of American horticulture, comprising suggestions for cultivation of horticultural plants, descriptions of the species of fruits, vegetables, flowers and ornamental plants sold in the United States and Canada, together with geographical and biographical sketches, and a synopsis of the vegetable kingdom
Identifier: cyclopediaofamer03bail (find matches)
Year: 1906 (1900s)
Authors: Bailey, L. H. (Liberty Hyde), 1858-1954, ed; Miller, Wilhelm, 1869- joint ed
Subjects: Gardening -- Dictionaries; Plants -- North America encyclopedias
Publisher: New York, Doubleday, Page & Company
Contributing Library: UMass Amherst Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: UMass Amherst Libraries

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78- HYAPINTHUS
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ll'n Roman Hyacinth Double Red: Bouquet Tendre. Crimson. Noble par Merite. Deep rosd. Single Lilac: Haydn. Lilao-mauve. Single Yellow . Lla. Pure yellow. Kiug of the Yellows. Deep yellow. Double Yellow: Goethe. Bright yellow. Miniature Hyacinths, or "Dutch Romans,are small- sized bulbs of the ordinary Dutch Hyacinths They are excellent for growing: in groups in bowls, pans or flats, planted close together and treated just like the large Hyacinths when grown in pots. CxOiure in Glasses.— Some of the single Hyacinths may be grown very satisfactorily in water. Special glasses for the purpose can be bought from the seeds- men. They should be filled with pure water and the bulb so placed that its base barely touches the water. They are stored in a dark, cold closet or cellar till the roots are developed, and then brought in to the light. An airy, sunny situation and a temperature of about 60° regularly maintained will insure the best results. The glasses should be kept filled by adding water occa- sionally as required. The following varieties are es- pecially suited for glasses: Charles Dickens. Pink. Lord Macaulay. Deep rose. Mina. Pure whHe. L'Innocence. Pure white. Von Schiller. Dark red. Grand Lilas. Light blue. Charles Diekens. Blue. Baron van Thuyll. Deep blue. Mr. Plimsoll. Fiue blush. Obelisque. Yellow. Moreno. Deep rose. Sir. Wm. Mansfield. Mauve. Moman ffyachifhs. —Instead of one large truss from each bulb, the Roman Hyacinth produces three or four smaller but more graceful flower-spikes. The bulbs ar- rive in America in August, and by successive pottings they may be had in flower from November till May. They require the same forcing treatment as the larger Hyacinths, but three or four bulbs may be planted in a pot. The florists use wooden flats instead of pots, set- ting the bulbs close together, 40 or 50 in a flat. By rea- son of its beauty and exquisite fragrance, its earliness and easy culture, the white Roman Hyacinth is the most popular of our winter-blooming plants. Several mil- lions of these bulbs are grown annually by the florists of our large cities for winter cut-flowers. The Propagation of Ryacinths. — 'With the exception of the Roman Hyacinths (which come from the south of France), the world's supply of Hyacinth bulbs is pro- duced in Holland. The soil and climate of that country seem to be peculiarly suitable for bulb-growing, which has been one of the leading industries there for 200 years. The Vmlbs intended for next year's market are planted in October in carefully prepared, richly manured land, and protected over winter by a thick covering of reed or litter. The flowers are cut when in full bloom in the spring. By July the bulbs are fully ripened, and are taken out of the ground by hand, dried, cleaned and assorted into three grades of quality, according to size. Early in August they are ready for shipping. Over- grown or unshapely bulbs are reserved for propagating. As soon as these are taken out of the ground, three deep cross cuts are made with a sharp knife in the bot- tom of each bulb. They are then set out, bottom up- wards, and covered with loose soil for two or three weeks, during which time the cuts open out and the wounds are healed. They are then taken up and kept spread out on tables in storehouses till October, when they are planted out. When lifted next June nothing of the parent bulb remains but dry skins, on the edges of which from 20 to 30 offsets are fastened. These bulb- lets are picked off by hand and planted out in the fall, just like large bulbs. This process of planting in fall and taking up in summer for a two mouths' rest is re- peated for four or five years, till the bulbs have attained to marketable size. Another method of propagating is to hollow out the bottom of the bulb smoothly to a point in the center. More offsets are obtained in this way, but they are smaller and take a year or two longer to reach maturity. New varieties are obtained from seed, but such a de- gree of perfection in form and color has already been obtained that it is seldom a seedling is produced that proves superior to existing varieties of the same color. Some new varieties are obtained by encouraging any tendency to change of color or form which may be shown by the standard sorts. In this way the single blue Charles Dickens has been changed to single red and to double blue, and again, very recently, to double red, till we have four varieties named Charles Dickens. Last year's catalogue of a reliable Dutch grower con- tains 340 named Hyacinths. j. m. Thorburn & Co. HYBRIDS are the products cf crossing between spe- cies. Of late, the word Hybrid has been used by some writers to comprise all crosses, whether between species or varieties. The justification of this usage is the fact that there are no hard and fast lines between varieties and species, and therefore that hybridism in the old sense is incapable of exact delimitation. The opponents to this usage, however, contend that so long as it is cus- tomary to speak of species and varieties as different classificatory categories, it is equally allowable and use- ful to speak of Hybrids as between species and of cross- breeds as between varieties ; moreover, historical cus- tom favors this usage. Common-language terms rarely if ever express ab.solute or ideal truth: they grow up by custom. Whenever new ideas and discoveries render them inexact, it may be quite as well to invent new terms as to give new and technical meanings to old terms which are thoroughly established in litera- ture. The word Hybrid has always been a specific term, and it were a pity now to make it a generic one, particularly since there is a well established generic term. The generic word, both substantive and verb, is cross. Specific kinds of crosses are Hybrids, between species; cross-breeds, between plants of the same spe- cies ; half-hybrid, between a species and a variety of another species ; bigener, between plants of different

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