1873.] AQUATICS. — CHArTEE XL 197 



essential properties — one that must bo insisted on before wo talk of a model 

 Tulip. In the white-ground classes, whether Eoses or B3'bloomens, we want a 

 clear, unsullied, snowy white ; and in the yellow-ground class or classes, whether 

 darks or reds, and whether of a lemon-yellow or an orange-yellow, we must have 

 the colour clear and glossy in appearance, without speck or shade. 



Moreover, besides clearness and brightness in the ground colour of Tulips, 

 before we can get at anything like perfection we must have solidity in all the 

 colours and markings, a shining brightness as though they had a coat of varnish 

 put upon them. Take the Eose class first : the colouiing matter ought to be 

 of a bright rose colour, the nearer approach to a scarlet the better, upon a pure 

 white ground. In the Bybloomen class, the colour ought to be a bright purple, 

 so dark that the nearer it approaches to black the better, and that upon a similarly 

 pure snow-white ground. In Dark Bizarres, the colouring ought to be of 

 a dark cinnamon-brown, the darker the bettei', upon a pure bright lemon ground, 

 this ground being more common in the dark class than it is in the reds. Finally, 

 in what we may term Eed Bizarres, the colouring ought to be of a bright crimson- 

 tinted red, approaching to orange-scarlet upon a yellow ground, more orange- 

 tinted than we generally have in the dark class of Bizarres. 



A model Tulip should, therefore, combine the following essential properties, 

 each of which should be perfect in its way, as already noted : — 1, Shape ; 2, 

 Substance, roundness, and smoothness of petals ; 3, Perfect purity in the ground- 

 colour, inside and out ; 4, Correct marking, whether feather or flame, all the 

 petals being marked in the same style. On a future occasion, all being well, I 

 will endeavour to give in each class the names of half-a-dozen of what I con- 

 sider first-class flowers — those which most nearly approach the model I have 

 endeavoured to explain. Meanwhile, I shall have something to say on the 

 Auricula, its properties, culture, &c. — J. Hepwoeth, Iluddersfield. 



AQUATICS.— Chaptee XI. 



HE well-known Calla ccthiojnca, now usually called Richardia cethiopica^ 

 was introduced in 1731. It is a native of South Africa, and is generally 

 regarded and employed as a greenhouse plant. Moreover, when grown in 

 pots it is very ornamental when in flower, and well suited for conservatory 

 decoration, besides which it has somewhat of a " classic " cast about it, which 

 adds considerably to its attractiveness. It is, however, as a hardy aquatic that 

 I am now about to treat of it, and this is really its proper position. The fact 

 of its doing well out of the water is only a proof of the yielding nature of the 

 plant. When planted in 18 in. or 2 ft. depth of water, so as to be out of the 

 reach of frost, it is perfectly hardy. There is strong evidence in support of this 

 assertion, as I have known it for over a quarter of a century flourishing in a 

 strip of water in a garden in Surrey, where it annually produces scores of its 

 chaste white spathes, with yellow spadices, surrounded by the bright green 

 hastate foliage. After being once planted it requires no further trouble, but 

 will go on increasing year by year. 



