208 ON THE CULTIVATIOTI OP TULIPS. 



amount of mischief done, but he was not allowed, as the, Dutchman 

 thouglit them too valuable to be disturbed ; he offered a considerable 

 amount for certain roots that he had so marked in the beds, as to be 

 able to select them, but all to no purpose, they were not to be bought, 

 at least at the price that was offered for them. (You must bear in mind 

 that at one time so great was the value set on the Tulip by tlie Dutch 

 that a single bulb was thought a magnificent gift to a maiden for her 

 marriage portion.) It appears the naturalist could not divest his mind 

 of the subject, but in a few months made another visit to the Dutch- 

 man, and on inquiring if the bulbs had been taken up was informed he 

 might have a quantity of them, as they were useless, having been per- 

 forated by some grub that would eventually cause them to rot. Pie 

 accepted the bulbs offered him, of which he took particular care, and 

 in process of time each bulb produced a grub, which in the end became 

 a perfect bee, and the bulbs rotted. 



The recollection of my boyhood readings gave me pleasure, as I 

 expected to reap instruction ; I made up my mind to investigate the 

 matter, so waited patiently for tiie next season, but it passed off without 

 adding a ray of light to the subject, the whole of the season being wet, 

 and not propitious for the flight of these little busy bodies. The next year 

 we had plenty of sun and heat, and I made sure of success, nor was I disap- 

 pointed, bees came in numbers, were continually watched, but I found that 

 the Morking bee, as they are called, or the bee of the cottage hive, did not 

 attempt to go near the ground, but only buzzed in and out of the flower- 

 cup. I was at a stand, my faith in tiie naturalist's remarks began to waver, 

 fearing the philosopher's bee was somewhat approximate to the philo- 

 sophei-'s stone, and would all end in smoke, but still I held on. One 

 fine afternoon, while sitting in my rustic chair at the bottom of my 

 bed, the glass door at the top of the bed being wide open, I was 

 luxuriating in the splendour of the blooms before me, when my atten- 

 tion was arrested by the buzz of a bee ; I w as at once on my legs, and 

 soon found the little busybody flying around the stems of the flowers, 

 and was some time before it could find one to its choice, at last it 

 alighted at the stem of one on which I did not set much value, and I 

 permitted it to carry out its pranks ; it began its work of excavation, 

 and was out of sight under ground in a short space of time. It was of 

 the humble bee species, rather small, of a light brown hue, rather thick 

 and short in the body. Some years afterwards I was walking in a vil- 

 lage in Buckinghamshire, I saw a quantity of what I thought was tlie 

 same species of bee, which had taken up their habitation in the crevices 

 of an old brick outhouse. I made inquiry of the inhabitants of the 

 place, they told me they were perfectly harmless, but could not inform 

 me if they made a comb in which to deposit eggs or honey, and I am 

 not philosopher enough to solve the question myself. But to return to 

 tlie bee and the bulb, I Avatched at the root with intense interest, 

 with a stick in my hand, to destroy the invader. 



I cannot say the exact time it was under ground, it might be ten 

 minutes, or less, or more; but wlien it came to the light it was too 

 sharp for me, it had performed the part designed to it by nature, it got 

 away unhurt. For the next few days we had a great many of the same 



