128 ON THE CULTIVATION OF TUlilrS. 



I have seen some of these seedlings, indeed at one meeting' that I 

 attended tiiere was a good sprinkling, and some of them pleased me 

 much ; several were splenditl things, and many of them will become 

 standard flowers ; tliere are many of excellent qualities, and in their 

 strains will not be surpassed in tiie south. You will find in tiie lists 

 appended to these letters, that a number have been bi'oken, and are 

 becoming popular in tlie north. I heard a short time since of a young 

 grower asking an old one, if he had ever seen a bloom of Salvator 

 Rosa, if hehad, theChellestan seedlings would drop into insignificance; 

 the answer he gave was, that he had botli seen and grown Salvator 

 Rosa, and he was certain that some of these seedlings would be equal, 

 if not superior to that flower. In this opinion I must coincide, for from 

 what I have seen and heard of these seedlings, I am inclined to think 

 that many of them will be as good as Salvator Rosa, and tliis is saying 

 a great deal, as it is a good thing. From the raiser of this flower, the 

 late Mr. Charles Brown (who was tiie most persevering and entim- 

 siastic cultivator of his day), I gained my first rudiments of tulip 

 growing ; Me were neiglibonrs and friends. Near tlie middle of his 

 nursery was a quickset hedge more tlian a quarter of a mile in length, 

 and on each side of this hedge was planted most years two rows of his 

 breeder tulips, (which gave rise to the remark of Mr. Glenny in one of 

 his papers, some years ago, of Tulips by the mile). Walking one day 

 with him down this hedge, I was struck with a fine Rose flower, to 

 which X called his attention ; he told me it was a new broke thing that 

 season, and he had named it Salvator Rosa. My answer was, it was 

 worthy of its name : it came out in his printed catalogue for that 

 season at 50/. On going over his bed the next year, I inquired for 

 this flower, when he informed me that the root had rotted, but he had 

 broke a very fine Byblomen, quite as good a flower, which must take 

 its place ; this was the origin of Salvator Rosa. 



Mr. John Slater, of Cheetham-hill, near this town, has been very 

 successful in raising seedlings ; he has been for some years crossing 

 different varieties, and saving seed to a large extent, and now possesses 

 a large stock of breeders which are very fine, displaying good qualities, 

 and every year rewards him with some good breaks, and some fine 

 flowers. There are a great many persons, with whose names I am not 

 familiar, who are doing the same, and in a few years when these good 

 things increase, there will be a large quantity of sterling flowei's ema- 

 nating from the north, that will be able to stand side by side with those 

 raised in the south, and It is my confirmed opinion that a few years 

 more will bring the Tulip to a greater perfection than it has ever yet 

 attained. 



So much for the noi'thern seedlings. 



In answer to your question about eight petals, the cause and the 

 cure, I think the probable cause is an over-growth of root; some 

 Tulips are more apt to come so than others. J recollect once a friend 

 sending me a dozen roots, with a fine name attached ; the bulbs were 

 the size of large onions, it was intimated they were middle row 

 flowers. They came up very strong, and most of them had three 

 blooms on the stem, and many of the blooms with eight petals ; they 



