TUL 



T U L 



The early and late sorts should likewise be each 

 put in, in places by themselves, and it is advised 

 that therootsofthe early blowing kinds should be 

 planted the beginning of September, in a warm 

 border, near a wall, paling, or hedge ; as, when 

 they are pat into an open spot of ground, their 

 buds are in danger of suffering by morning 

 frosts in the spring. The soil for these should 

 be renewed every vear, where people intend to 

 have them fair. The best soil for this purpose 

 is that which is taken from a light sandy pasture, 

 with the turf rotted amongst it, and to this 

 should be added a fourth part of sea sand. This 

 mixture may be laid about ten inches deep, which 

 will be sufficient for these roots, which need not 

 be planted more than four or five inches deep at 

 the most. 



The offsets should not be planted amongst 

 the blowing roots, but in a border by themselves, 

 where they may be set pretty close together, 

 especially when they are small; but these should 

 be taken up when their leaves decay, in the 

 same manner as the blowing roots, otherwise 

 they would rot if the season should prove very 

 wet, as they are not so hardy as the late blowers, 

 nor do they increase half so fast, so that more 

 care is requisite to preserve the offsets of them. 



When these sorts come up in the spring, the 

 earth upon the surface of the beds or borders 

 should be gently stirred and cleared from weeds ; 

 and as the buds appear, if the season should 

 prove very severe, it will be of great service to 

 cover them with mats, for want of which, many 

 times they are blighted, and their flowers decay 

 before they blow, which is often injurious to 

 the roots, as is also the cropping of the flowers 

 soon after they are blown ; as their roots, which 

 are formed new every year, are not at that time 

 arrived to their full magnitude, and are of course 

 deprived of proper nourishment or support. 



When these flowers are blown, if the season 

 should prove very warm, it will be proper to 

 shade them with mats, &c, in the heat of the 

 day ; and when the nights are frosty, they 

 should be covered in the same manner, by which 

 means they may be preserved a long time in 

 beauty ; but when their flowers are decayed, and 

 their seed-vessels begin to swell, they should 

 be broken off just at~the top of the stalks, as 

 when they are permitted to seed it injures the 

 roots very greatly. 



In these sorts when the leaves are decayed, 

 which is usually before the late blowers are out 

 of flower, their roots should be taken up, 

 and spread upon mats in a shady place to dry ; 

 after which they should be cleared from filth, 

 and put in a dry place where vermin cannot 

 come to them, until the season for planting 

 8 



them again, being verv careful to preserve every 

 sort separate, that it may be known how to dis- 

 pose of them at the time of planting. 



For this purpose, it is a good method to have 

 large flat boxes made, which are divided into 

 several parts bv small partitions, each of which 

 is numbered the same as the divisions of the 

 beds ; so that when a catalogue of the roots is 

 made, and the numbers fixed to each sort in the 

 beds, nothing more is necessary, in taking up 

 the roots, but to put every kind into the di- 

 vision marked with the same number in the bed. 

 This saves a great deal of trouble in making 

 fresh marks every time the roots are taken up, 

 and effectually answers the purpose of preserving 

 the kinds separate and distinct. 



Jn raising these plants from seed, it is, from 

 the time of sowing, seven or eight years before 

 they produce flowers ; and after all, they at first 

 appear only single-coloured, often requiring 

 two, three, or more years longer before they 

 break into different colours or variegations ; so 

 that the tediousness of raising seedling tulips to 

 a flowering state often deters from the under- 

 taking. It is, however, the method by which all 

 the fine varieties were first obtained, and by w hich 

 new varieties are still annually gained; as many 

 persons sow some every year, in expectation that 

 after the first six or seven years a new show of 

 flowers will be produced, out of which many 

 new varieties may annually discover themselves 

 in each parcel. It is bv this process the Dutch 

 are so famous for furnishing such an infinity of 

 fine varieties, supplyingalmost all other countries. 



In effecting this business, great care should 

 be used in the choice of the seed : the best is 

 that which is saved from breeders which have 

 all the good properties before related, for the 

 seeds of striped flowers seldom produce any 

 thing that is valuable ; and the best method to 

 obtain it is to make choice of a parcel of such 

 breeding Tulip roots as are wished to save seeds 

 from, and place them in a separate bed from the 

 breeders, in a place where they may be- fully 

 exposed to the sun, planting them at least nine 

 inches deep, as when they are planted too shal- 

 low their stems are apt to decay before their 

 seed is perfectly ripened : the flowers should be 

 always exposed to the weather, as when they are 

 shaded with mats, or any other covering, it 

 prevents their perfecting the seed. About the 

 middle of July, according to the season, the 

 seeds will be fit to gather, as shown by the dry- 

 ness of their stalks and the opening of the seed- 

 vessels, at which time they may be cut off, and 

 the seeds be preserved in the pods till the season 

 for sowing, being careful to put them up in a 

 dry place, otherwise they will be subject to 



