260 BULBS AND TUBEROUS-ROOTED PLANTS. 
other form in cultivation. The only change worthy a 
varietal name was a ‘‘Sport,” discovered by John Hen- 
derson, of Flushing, N. Y., growing in his field, about 
1870. A number of plants of strong habit of growth, 
and with dark, broad foliage, attracted his attention, 
and he determined to keep them apart from his main 
stock, in order to see what the result would be. These 
he cultivated in the same manner as his other bulbs. 
Upon their flowering, he discovered a distinct type, of 
dwarf habit, and much larger flowers. This he at once 
named the ‘‘ Pearl,” and from the then small stock 
the trade is now wholly supplied. What is known as 
the ‘‘Excelsior” Pearl, is simply the ‘‘Pearl,” and 
nothing else. 
P. gracilis.—A native of Brazil. It has pale yel- 
low flowers of small merit, and is but little known. 
P. tuberosa (Common Tuberose).—The earliest 
account we have of this species is in L’Ecluse’s ‘‘ History 
of Plants,” from which we learn it was brought from 
the Indies by Father Theophilus Minuti, a Christian 
missionary, about the year 1530, who grew it in his gar- 
dens near Toulon, France. Bernard Paludanus, a dis- 
tinguished physician at Rome, grew it in 1594, having 
obtained the roots from the priests, who had, previously, 
refused the most earnest entreaties to part with it. At 
this time the single species and the variety with varie- 
gated foliage were the only ones in cultivation. 
Culture of the Tuberose.—The Tuberose is a 
gross feeder, and succeeds best in a light loam, but will 
grow in any soil, providing it is moist and rich; rich it 
must be, without regard to other conditions; its com- 
plete requisites are, heat, water and manure; if these 
are proportionate, it matters not how much there may 
be, the plants will consume it, and by their growth show 
its importance. 
For fie!d culture prepare the ground as for a crop of 
potatoes; plant in drills thirty inches apart, and place 
