CURSORY REMARKS ON THE TULIP. o*J 



stage flowers ; but surely this cannot possibly be the case, if the as- 

 sertion be true that the" connoisseurs in the South " are a century 

 before their brethren in the North." 



The. Northumberland tulip cultivators would never award a prize 

 to a feathered tulip with the slightest mark or blotch upon a petal 

 more than the regular feathering, which would be expected to begin 

 very near the bottom of each petal, be heaviest halfway up, and also 

 go completely round the top, without the least white spot to divide 

 the feathering in any one place. This, united to a good cup and 

 perfectly pure bottom, they would consider a first-rate feathered tulip, 

 and fit for a place on any stage in the empire. A flamed tulip would 

 be judged similarly ; a good cup, regular marking on all the petals, 

 edges free from any incision or crack, and a perfectly pure bottom, 

 being the four great and essential requisites. 



This being, in reality, the case, where-, I would ask, is the great 

 and often alleged difference of opinion between the southern and 

 northern florists regarding this flower? I can perceive none, as I 

 have always understood the above to contain all that was considered 

 the desired criteria in the southern parts of the kingdom ; and if Mr. 

 Tyso could spare time in his travels next May to visit the exhibition 

 of the Felton Society, I feel certain that he would acknowledge that 

 we possessed some rare and beauteous gems, thathad convinced him 

 that we were not quite a century behind his neighbours in the 

 South. 



One word more as to the mode of making out descriptive catalogues 

 of tulips. Every pains has been taken of late years by nurserymen 

 in making out their Dahlia catalogues, so that the purchaser might 

 be acquainted with every property possessed by the various kinds 

 before making his selection. This, however, would be too tedious, 

 and occupy too much space in the Cabinet for tulip catalogues. 

 Most of your readers must, no doubt, have seen the very excellent 

 and comprehensive descriptive ranunculus catalogue of Messrs. Tyso, 

 of Wallingford. I think, therefore, that in making out tulip cata- 

 logues we coidd not do better than keep it in our eye, so that when 

 the reader came to a name which lie had in his own collection, he 

 might at once see whether the properties were the same as those pos- 

 d by his own, or not, and thus judge of the correctness of hi$ 

 own stock. In kinds not in his possesion he would see at a glance 



