74 ON THE CULTURE OF THE TUMP. 



I have hitherto been tenacious to intrude myself upon public 

 notice, but as the Cabinet is now in the twelfth month of its 

 existence, and numerous Queries have been made upon the sub- 

 ject of the Tulip, and but one Article (Vol. I. page 149) has 

 appeared, and the season approaching which will so sensibly 

 invite the attention of the bloomers of this delightful and graceful 

 flower, I am induced to make the following detailed observations 

 on its culture, conceiving that it may be instructive and accept- 

 able to a portion of your readers, some of whom, who ardently 

 admire the flower, are doubtlessly wholly or nearly unacquainted 

 with the general treatment and nature of the plant, and desirous 

 of obtaining information on the subject. To such I address my 

 remarks, trusting that the service it may render to some will be a 

 sufficient apology for the space I occupy in your pages ; the more 

 so, as I observe that a few other subjects have been treated on as 

 fully in the Cabinet, and feeling, as I do, a lively interest in the 

 success and gratification of my brother florist. 



Soil. — The standard of soil for the Tulip should indisputably be 

 a strong, rich yellow loam, laid open and exposed, previous to 

 using, to the action of sun and air, for at least one winter and one 

 summer, turned over every few weeks, by which means it becomes 

 thoroughly decomposed and divested of all acrid and rank quali- 

 ties, and in a state congenial to the natural order of the vegetation 

 of the plant. 



Manure. — There is upon this point some little difference of 

 opinion, even amongst the oldest and most scientific growers of 

 the present day ; but it is, I believe, admitted by a very consider- 

 able majority of the most inveterate fanciers, that the intermixture 

 of manure upon the undermentioned principle is decidedly bene- 

 ficial, and is acted upon with the utmost success. It should be 

 equal proportions of horse and cow dung, laid up in a heap for at 

 least eighteen months, turned about once a month, but in frosty 

 weather more frequently, in order to allow the frost well to pene- 

 trate it, as it must not on any account be applied to the Tulip bed 

 until it has become completely pulverised, and formed positively 

 into a substance as fine as mould, when it is entirely freed from 

 every pernicious or injurious property, and the existence of insects 

 i- nearly or wholly annihilated. Then the application of one- 

 third part of such manure to two-third parts of loam as above 



