TDLIPA. 



121 



to make them break, that is, to 

 produce the brilliant and distinct 

 colours which constitute the beauty 

 of a florist's flower, a vai'iety of 

 expedients are resorted to. At one 

 time they are grown in poor soil, 

 and only allowed water enough to 

 keep them living ; and then they 

 are suddenly transported to the 

 richest soil, abounding in food and 

 moisture ; and sometimes they are 

 sent into the country twenty or 

 thirty miles from the place where 

 they were grown, to try the eff'ect I 

 of change of air. Seedling tulips ; 

 are generally five years before they 

 flower. In addition to the kinds al- 

 ready enumerated, the French have 

 what they call Baguettes, which 

 are very tall-stemmed Tulips, the 

 flowers of which are white, striped 

 with dark-brownish red ; Baguettes 

 Eigauds, which i-esemble the others, 

 but have shorter stems and lai'ger 

 flowers ; and Flamands, which have 

 a white ground and broad dark-red 

 stripes. The Dutch have also a 

 kind which they call the Incom- 

 parable Verport, which is white, 

 feathered with bright shining brown. 

 All florists' Tulips ought to have cup- 

 shaped flowers, round at the base ; 

 the ground colour inside the flower 

 ought to be quite clear and bright in 

 the centre ; and all the marks ought 

 to appear sharply cut and distinct. 



The culture of the Tulip as a 

 florist's flower requires constant 

 attention. A bed about four feet 

 wide, and of any convenient length, 

 should be dug out to the depth of 

 two feet, and in it a stratum of fresh 

 turfy loam should be laid, and on 

 this there should be a layer of rotten 

 cow-dung, and on that a layer of 

 loam mixed with an equal quantity 

 of sand. The surface of the bed 

 should be slightly raised in the 

 middle, and the tallest Tulips should 

 be planted along it ; the lower-grow- 



ing ones being ranged on each side, 

 so as to make the flowers form a 

 gentle curve to the sides of the bed. 

 The Tulips should be seven inches 

 apart every way ; and should be 

 planted two or three inches deep ; 

 and the bed should be protected by 

 half-hoops placed over it at regular 

 distances, over which mats should 

 be strained ; the covering being so 

 contrived as to be removed or opened 

 at pleasure. When the Tulips are 

 nearly arrived at their full height, 

 the hoops and mats should be re- 

 moved, and a path being made round 

 the bed, a canvas a'wning, supported 

 on a wooden frame, ' should be sub- 

 stituted. When the plants have 

 done flowering, the leaves should be 

 suftered to remain on till they turn 

 brown, in order that they may 

 assist in perfecting the new bulb, 

 which is formed every year in lieu 

 of the old one, which gradually 



■TULIP BULB. 



wastes away. The bulb is tuni- 

 cated, that is, it consists of several 

 coats or tunics laid over one another 

 (see fig. 59). When the leaves are 



