Book II. 



TULIP. 



8S1 



6236. Van Kampen and son Bay, " We take up the roots as soon as the leaves begin to wither, that is, when 

 their plants begin to turn yellow. We then break off the stems an inch above thebulbs, which we afterwards 

 cover with earth, in which they are to lie till the gross moisture be dried up by the warmth of the sun. 

 We make a little heap of earth, and place the roots in it, bottom downwards as they grew ; and the heap is 

 covered with an inch or two of soil. When the bulbs have lain in this heap for three weeks, they are 

 to be taken out in fair weather, and laid on a board in the sun for an hour, after which, they are to be 

 cleared of the earth and offsets about them, taking great care not to give the least bruise or wound." 

 (Quot by Neill, in Hort. Tour, 558.) 



6237. Herbert says, " The bulbs should be placed in an airy store-room, and not suffered to touch each 

 other ; a moveable stage of open lattice-work, furnished with drawers, may be used, and the utmost atten- 

 tion should be paid to ventilation." A French florist, Baudry, is said [Ceiled. Hort. Mem. iv. 76.) to have 

 lost annually a number of his hyacinth-bulbs through dampness until he adopted the expedient of placing 

 them in the store-room with the base of the bulb upwards. Drawers of lattice-work would effect the same 

 object. 



6238. Diseases. " Hyacinths are subject to various diseases, arising from different causes ; that distem- 

 per commonly known by the appellation of the ring-sickness, is of all others the most dangerous and most 

 difficult to cure ; in short, the only effectual remedy is to cut out the diseased part, till no brownness, yel- 

 lowness, or other symptom of distemper remains. The sound part will survive the operation, if it consist 

 of no more than the outside tunic of the bulb, without any heart; but it will, in such case, only be able 

 to produce offsets, and will never recover itself so as to flower again : as soon as the operation is performed, 

 the wounded part should be exposed to the sun, till it becomes dry, to prevent mouldiness, and it will be 

 best to replant it in some dry situation soon after." " The Dutch," Herbert observes, " are much troubled 

 with this disease ; the cause of which appears to be a fungus, the spawn of which is nurtured in the 

 cow-dung. The only remedy is the removal of the distempered bulb, and the compost that was in contact 

 with it" 



6239. Duration of bulbs. " The hyacinth delights in a sandy soil and saline atmosphere ; of conse- 

 quence it succeeds best on the sea-coast, or in situations very near to the sea. In more inland parts, it 

 will generally be found necessary to procure an annual reinforcement of fresh imported bulbs, in order to 

 make good or supply the deficiencies arising from the loss, or impaired health and strength of many of those 

 that have bloomed on the best bed the preceding spring. Those who are well acquainted with the hyacinth, 

 always allow about one bulb in twelve to fail, notwithstanding no visible blemish or decay is discernible at 

 the time of planting ; such generally have a corps de reserve, in narrow deep pots, which, at the com- 

 mencement of bloom, they plunge or sink into the bed, wherever a vacancy, or weak sickly plant makes 

 its appearance ; by which means the uniformity and regularity of the bed is preserved, without any visible 

 defect or alteration." Herbert says, " My own experience enables me to say, that the nurseryman in the 

 neighborhood of London may produce hyacinth-bulbs equal, if not superior, to those imported from Hol- 

 land ; though, perhaps, with greater loss from disease, owing to his not being able to procure the dung of 

 cattle fed upon hard food, and free from straw." (Hort. Tram. vol. iv. p. 168.) 



6240. Forcing the hyacinth. Plant the roots in narrow deep pots, filled with sandy loam, in October ; 

 plunge them in and cover them with old bark-leaves or sand ; they will soon throw down roots, and a part 

 may then, say in November, be plunged in bottom heat, which will come into bloom by Christmas, and 

 successional supplies can be taken from the store planted in October, and a bloom thus kept up till they 

 flower in the open air. The best sorts to force are the single blues and reds. 



6241. Blowing hyacinths in water-glasses. Blue or dark-colored glasses are more favorable to the pro- 

 gress of the roots than light ones, light being injurious to all roots. The bulbs to be blown in the glasses 

 should be planted in October, in earth in which they push their fibres more regularly, and taken up as 

 wanted, washed from the earth, and placed in the blowing-glass : the glasses may be kept in a warm room 

 or in a stove. The water should be soft, and the glass so full that it may rise a fourth of an inch on the 

 bulb. As often as it becomes fetid, it should be renewed. 



Subsect. 2. Tulip. — Tulijia Gesneriana, L. (But. Mag. 1135.) Hex. Monog. L. and 

 Liliee, J. Tulipe, Fr. and Ger. and Tulipano, Ital. (Jig. 592.) 

 6242. The bulb of the tulip is solid, and sends up an upright stem from twelve to eigh- 

 teen inches high, with glaucous leaves, and a large erect flower, the petals in its wild state 

 having a black base. It is a native of the Levant. It is common in Syria, and is sup- 

 posed by some to be the " lily of the field," referred to in Christ's address from the mount; 

 though Sir J. E. Smith thinks the amaryllis lutea is there meant. In Persia, where the 

 tulip is abundant, it is considered as the emblem of 

 perfect lovers. " When a young man," says 

 Chardin, " presents one to his mistress, he gives 

 her to understand, by the general color of the 

 flower, that his body is on fire with her beauty, and i 

 by the black base of it, that his heart is burned to a 

 coal." According to Gesner, the tulip was brought 

 to Europe in 1559. It was cultivated in Eng- 

 land by James Garnet, in 1577, having been intro- 

 duced, according to Hakluyt, from Vienna. To- 

 wards the middle of the 17th century, the tulip 

 became the object of considerable trade in the 

 Netherlands ; it rose to its greatest height in 1634, 

 and the three following years. According to 

 Beckmann (History of Inventions, art. Tulip), for 

 one root of a variety called the Viceroy, articles to 

 the value of 2500 florins were agreed to be de- 

 livered. The Semper Augustus has been sold for 

 2000 florins; one person agreed to give 4600 florins (about 460/.), with a new carriage, 

 two horses, and complete harness ; and another agreed to give twelve acres of land for a 

 single root. The trade was generally followed for a time, and having no foundation in 

 real utility, like the Missisippi and South Sea schemes, it was a mere gambling business, 

 and rightly named Tulipomania. John Barclay, the celebrated author of the romance of 

 Argenis, is said to have had this mania to such an excess, that he placed two mastiffs as 



