HflJ J^.J CULTIVATION OF TUK TUBEROSE. 



ers alike — no, there are not a few who are a credit to themselves and an ornament to 

 tlu'ir profession ; it is to the laggard, the self-suflicient, the drone, the sloven, that I 

 Avoulil address myself. 'Tis these, often, who bring obloquy on the rest — one bad 

 "•ardoncr will often be the means of bringing disgrace on the fraternity. House 

 up, then, brothers — for I am one of you, (bad or good I do not say,) my interests are 

 idrntitiod with yours, — let us see if we can not raise ourselves a little in the social 

 scale. I know one thing, and that is, if we are not the meanest men, we are the 

 meanest paid men of any class in the country, considering what is required of us. 

 But let us examine, and satisfy ourselves that this short pay is not the result ot our 

 own short-comings; let those who employ us see that we have mind and indlhcl, as 

 well as bone and muscle. Till thoy perceive this, they will not consent to place us in 

 any other class than the one we are arranged in at the commencement of this chapter. 



ON THE CULTIVATION OF THE TUBEROSE. 



BY ir. W. TEHUY, lIAltTFORD, CONN. 



Desp:rvedly a fiivorite as this flower is, it is seldom successfully cultivated in the 

 north, both from want of jiroper care and from the shortness of our season of warmth. 

 I liiive been very successful in flowering it, liavirg had at one time ninety-six spikes in 

 one bed, early in September. As some of your readers may be willing to take the 

 same trouble for the sake of such a splendid show, I will describe the jjlan I pursued. 

 About the 15th of April the bed should be laid out, four feet wide. This will give 

 room for six bulbs in the cross row, at eight inches apart. The rows should be twelve 

 inches from each other, and the bed made long enough to receive the required number 

 of bulbs. Dig out all the earth to the depth of two feet, keeping the sides perpendic- 

 ular. Be certain that the bottom is well drained, so that no water can stand in it. 

 Fill the bed with hot dung, or, what is better, dung and leaves mixed, treading it down 

 until within four inches of the surface. On this put eight inches of a compost of one- 

 third good garden loam, one-third coarse sand, one-sixth rotted hot-bed manure, and 

 one-sixth leaf mold. The bulbs should be largo, plump, and entirely stripped of ofl:'- 

 sets. !Make the holes four inches deep, and put a little white sand in each, so that 

 the top of the bulb shall be an inch below the surface of the bed, and cover them, 

 makincr the bed smooth. Place on the bed crosswise about four inches of straw, with 

 poles laid lengthwise to secure it against wind. In about a fortnight examine the bed, 

 and when the bulbs have started about two inches, take oft' the straw and put down 

 some crotches at the sides of the bed to support cross poles on which to place a cov-' 

 ering of mats or old carpets at about six inches from the surface of the bed. Remove 

 this every mild day, putting it on at night, until all danger of frost is past. Then 

 place slender sticks, painted green, to each bulb, to tie the flower-stems to. Water 

 fully in dry weather. 



