228 THE TULIP. 



how cheap they may be ; if they are clean, they will always be fit for a 

 best bed. Let us look rather to cheap, good things, than dear ones. 



Roses. — Madame Vestris, Triumph Koyale, Catalani, Rosa Blanca, 

 Lavinia, Coeur Blanche, Compte de Virgines, Camuse, Cerise Belle 

 Forme, Aglaia, Manteau Ducal, Lucetta. 



Bijhlomens. — Keine de Sheba, Siani. David, Rubens, Holmes' King, 

 Diogenes, Washington, Violet Alexandre, Grotius, Alcon, Due de 

 Bourdeaux, Franeiscus Primus. 



Bizurres. — Polyphemus, Sanzoe, Surpass Catafalque, Charbonnier, 

 PlatofF, Globe, Titian, Fabius, Duke of Clarence, High Admiral, 

 Glencoe, Marcellus. 



AVith these to begin with, and which can be had reasonably of any 

 fancier, will be laid tiie foundation of a good bed : not but that there 

 are flowers as good as any mentioned here, and there may be some 

 better; but these are clean, which is a great point, — healtliy, strong 

 growers, which is another i)oint ; tiiey are very unlike eacii other, 

 whicli is highly important ; and they will, by merely multiplying them, 

 form a very showy, clean, and interesting bed at any time. It will be 

 easy to find rather dear additions, but it may be as well to say that 

 Rose Magnificent and Bijou would be superb additions to the Roses ; 

 the Duke of Northumberland and Queen of the North would be fine 

 among the Byblomens ; and tlie Duke of Devonshire and Tom Brown 

 would be fine additions to the Bizarres. Let no one be deterred from 

 growing Tulips for want of a stage and awning. They are as fine as 

 most flowers without any protection, and by beginning with these few, 

 which will increase every year, he will soon produce enough for a bed 

 worth protecting. Let the earth be dug out two feet deep, let the 

 ground be well drained, the Tulips planted in four feet wide beds, six 

 inches apart every way, and keep such account of the names or numbers 

 of each as shall prevent their names being mismatched or lost. Until 

 they have increased enough to be worth arranging in their proper 

 rows, they may be planted in sorts, with labels to them. They should 

 be planted full tliree inches deep, taken up when the top of the flower- 

 stem shrivels, and be put away in the dry and the shade. As soon, 

 however, as the flower declines, the seed-pod should be taken oflP, 

 otherwise it keeps exhausting the root to perfect the seed ; whereas, if 

 removed, the stem will begin to decay soon after the bloom, and the 

 bulbs should be taken up before the green is entirely out of the stem. 

 The stem should be cut off" an inch above the bulb, and the earth not 

 cleaned ott' nor the fibres taken away until tlie bulb has been dug \ip a 

 week or a fortnight, wlien they may be cleaned and placed away in 

 their boxes until planting time. Another point is worth mentioning. 

 "When tlie spikes are just through the ground, in the spring, the surface 

 of the earth should be stirred, and all the lumps broken, so as to lay 

 close round the plants, for it lets the air into the roots, and greatly 

 facilitates the growth of the plant. 



The oflTsets of Tulips, particularly the smallest, should be planted in 

 the early part of October, or many would be lost, as the smallest often 

 shrivel during the winter, and die. Early planting saves all these 

 casualties, and promotes their growth and early maturity. The first 



