13: 



IRISH GARDENING 



SEPTEMBER 



unto the lilies and before the narcissi or daffodils, the 

 discourse of tulipas deserveth his place, for that it 

 partaketh of both their natures ; agreeing with the lilies 

 in leaves, flowers and seed, and somewhat with the 

 daffodils in roots." His reasoning is, perhaps, a little far 

 fetched, but is interesting to show the interest taken in 

 the flower at that early date. The tulip was first intro- 

 duced to Europe in the year 1554 by Busbequius, the 

 .Austrian Ambassador before the Sultan of Turkey. He 

 purchased seeds of the plant from a gardener who 

 resided near Constantinople. The history of its cultiva- 

 tion in Holland dates back to the close of the sixteenth 

 centurv. .About that time a certain Dr. Clusius, a 

 noted German herb 

 alist, settled in Ley- 

 den. He soon 

 roused the curiosity 

 and admiration o' 

 his neighbours by 

 the wonderful 

 flowers he grew, 

 especially his ti:lips, 

 which they had 

 never seen before. 

 Some of them 

 wished to purchase 

 bulbs from him, but 

 he asked such high 

 prices that they 

 were unable to bu}', 

 so one night they 

 stole them all, the 

 loss of which is said 

 to have made him 

 broken-hearted for 

 the rest of his life. 

 .As some bulbs were 

 imported from the 

 East in the same 

 \"ear he was ne\er 

 able to get any re- 

 dress for the theft. 

 The tulip craze be- 

 gan in the year 1634 

 and lasted four 

 years, the Govern- 

 ment having to in- 

 terfere to stop it. 



The Dutch neglected everything else in their mania lor 

 tulip culture. Prices went up by leaps and bounds until 

 the climax was reached when a Semper Augustus bulb 

 was sold for ^^380 (Si. 824.001, along with a carriage and 

 pair and two sets of harness. 



Previous to that time there were only two bulbs 

 of this variety in exisence. A Dutch ship-owner 

 had purchased one of them for ;£J300 ($1,440.00), 

 which he laid on his desk before planting. Shortly 

 afterwards one of his sailors brought him good news, so 

 he presented him with a smoked herring. The sailor, 

 on the look out for an onion to eat with it, saw, as he 

 thought, one on his master's desk, and, watching his 

 chance, pocketed the bulb. .A hue-and-cry was soon 

 raised, and the sailor was found eating it, exclaiming 

 that it tasted no more like an onion than a weasel tasted 



like a whale. The other one was sold soon after for the 

 price already mentioned. The tulip was introduced into 

 England in the year 1577 by the aforesaid Dr. Clusius, 

 and in due time arrived in .America, being brought over 

 by some of the early emigrants. Until the latter part of 

 the nineteenth centurj- the Dutch supplied the world with 

 dry bulbs, but of recent years other countries have taken 

 up their culture with great success — notably, France, 

 Germany, and the British Isles. The Irish growers are 

 well to the front, and are second to none today in the 

 production of good, sound, healthy bulbs. Parkinson, 

 already referred to, divided the genus into two principal 

 sections, with a lesser intermediate section, as 

 f o 1 1 o w s : - P r se- 

 coces, early flower- 

 ing ; Serotinai, late 

 flowering; and 

 Mediae or Dubiae, 

 middle flowering. 

 .Most growers to- 

 day divide them 

 into two sections, 

 early ■ and late. 

 Under the early 

 heading comes the 

 Early Singles and 

 the Early Doubles, 

 and under the late 

 heading comes the 

 Late Doubles, Per- 

 rots. Old-fashioned 

 Darwins, and Cot- 

 tage tulips. There 

 are eighty-three 

 undoubted species, 

 of which about one 

 half are in cultiva- 

 tion. They are 

 natives of oriential 

 countries — princi- 

 pally Siberia, Asia 

 Minor, China, and 

 Japan, and are 

 naturalised in the 

 south-western 

 countries of Europe. 

 The origin of the 

 common garden tu. 

 lip is unknown. They are descendants chiefly of Tidipa 

 gesncnana and Tulipa suaveolens ; Suaveolens being the 

 parent of the early flowering varieties, and Gfsneriana of 

 the late. These varieties are not considered species by 

 the best authorities, only wild hybrids. The following list 

 comprises some of the best known species in cultivation — 

 namely, Celsiana, Clusiaiia, Eichleri, Grcigi, Kolpakou'S- 

 kyana, Oaihis salts, Persica, Pracmx, Praestans, Syhvs- 

 tris, and Turcica. Celsiana, crocus-like tulip, so called 

 from its re.semblance to a yellow crocus when expanded, 

 is found wild in Southern Europe and Northern -Africa. 

 Height, 4 to 6 inches. Flower yellow inside, orange 

 outside. Cliisiana, Clusius tulip, is naturalised in 

 South France and Southern Europe. Colour white, 

 striped rose ; 14 inches high. Eichleri has for its 

 home Georgia in .Asia. Flower brilliant scarlet, violet- 



D.\R\vi.\ Tllip, Rev. H. E\vb.\nk 

 (Much '.Reduced.) 



