The earliest variety is the Duke Van Tholl, small, red, white and yel- low. Set six inches apart. The single and double early kinds in many bright hues, and the half grotesque-looking " parrots," in their dazzling fringed robes of scarlet and gold, bloom next. Then the double late ones, flaunting their gaudy colors. The class, called by florists " single late show tulips," merits special attention. They are divided into the " by-blooms," with white ground and different markings, the " bizarres," HYACINTHS. 115 a yellow ground with stripes of other colors, and the " roses," with white ground and exquisite pencilings of rose and red. Plant eight or ten inches apart. Treat as hyacinths. VERBENAS. It does not seem generally known that verbenas raised from seed will produce larger flowers and more of them than on those plants grown by a florist from a cutting. Nevertheless such is the case, and another thing to recommend these seedlings to favor is that they are nearly always fragrant. If one desires to make a bed of verbenas in distinct colors, then recourse must be had to the florist, for as he propagates from named varieties, of which he knows their colors and habits, he is able to sup- ply scarlet, white, purple, striped and many other shades. Seedlings are not to be relied upon to produce certain colors. It scarcely pays to propagate verbenas to keep over winter, since they are easily grown from seed sown during the winter. Still, there are some remarkably choice specimens that we want for stock another sea- son. To do this, remove the young wood, take away the two leaves next above a joint, then with a very sharp knife cut straight across the slip immediately below the joint. They are very liable to damp off — but give less water and try again. HYACINTHS. The soil for bulbs must be very rich, deep and well-drained, and should contain a good proportion — about one-third — of sand. In planting always measure the depth from the top of the bulb. The small bulbs and tubers, such as the crocus, snow-drop and Spanish iris, ranunculus and anemone, should be planted about two inches deep; tulips, jonquils and narcissus, three inches ; hyacinths, four, and crown imperial, five. The hardy varieties may all be planted outdoors in the North or in the South, at any time from October to January. In the Northern States the beds should be covered with leaves or hay before the weather becomes very cold. This covering may be removed when the first green leaves begin peeping above ground in the spring. But in the South no protection is needed, and the best success has been when the bulbs were left in the ground all the time. An occasional weeding and dig- ging among the roots when they first come up and an annual rich top- dressing from the compost heap, given in October or November, will , be all the attention required by a bed of hardy bulbs. After two or three years the roots will become too much crowded and need thinning out. No bulb requires so rich soil as the hyacinth ; if planted in poor ground the flowers will do very well for the first year, but be trifling 116 FLOWERS. afterwards ; and if planted more shallow than four inches, the heat of the sun will cause the bulbs to split and divide into innumerable small roots that will not bloom well for two or three years.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

The earliest variety is the Duke Van Tholl, small, red, white and yellow. Set six inches apart. The single and double early kinds in many bright hues, and the half grotesque-looking " parrots," in their dazzling fringed robes of scarlet and gold, bloom next. Then the double late ones, flaunting their gaudy colors. The class, called by florists " single late show tulips," merits special attention. They are divided into the " by-blooms," with white ground and different markings, the " bizarres," a yellow ground with stripes of other colors, and the " roses," with white ground and exquisite pencilings of rose and red. Plant eight or ten inches apart. Treat as hyacinths. VERBENAS. It does not seem generally known that verbenas raised from seed will produce larger flowers and more of them than on those plants grown by a florist from a cutting. Nevertheless such is the case, and another thing to recommend these seedlings to favor is that they are nearly always fragrant. If one desires to make a bed of verbenas in distinct colors, then recourse must be had to the florist, for as he propagates from named varieties, of which he knows their colors and habits, he is able to supply scarlet, white, purple, striped and many other shades. Seedlings are not to be relied upon to produce certain colors. It scarcely pays to propagate verbenas to keep over winter, since they are easily grown from seed sown during the winter. Still, there are some remarkably choice specimens that we want for stock another season. To do this, remove the young wood, take away the two leaves next above a joint, then with a very sharp knife cut straight across the slip immediately below the joint. They are very liable to damp off — but give less water and try again. HYACINTHS. The soil for bulbs must be very rich, deep and well-drained, and should contain a good proportion — about one-third — of sand. In planting always measure the depth from the top of the bulb. The small bulbs and tubers, such as the crocus, snow-drop and Spanish iris, ranunculus and anemone, should be planted about two inches deep; tulips, jonquils and narcissus, three inches ; hyacinths, four, and crown imperial, five. The hardy varieties may all be planted outdoors in the North or in the South, at any time from October to January. In the Northern States the beds should be covered with leaves or hay before the weather becomes very cold. This covering may be removed when the first green leaves begin peeping above ground in the spring. But in the South no protection is needed, and the best success has been when the bulbs were left in the ground all the time. An occasional weeding and digging among the roots when they first come up and an annual rich topdressing from the compost heap, given in October or November, will be all the attention required by a bed of hardy bulbs. After two or three years the roots will become too much crowded and need thinning out. No bulb requires so rich soil as the hyacinth ; if planted in poor ground the flowers will do very well for the first year, but be trifling afterwards ; and if planted more shallow than four inches, the heat of the sun will cause the bulbs to split and divide into innumerable small roots that will not bloom well for two or three years.

The household (of the Detroit free press)