192 DUTCH BULBS. 



England, was till lately a very strange one, and quite 

 unworthy of the advanced state of science at the present 

 day. The seed was saved from the unbroken flowers, or 

 breeders, as they were termed, and consequently the young 

 plants were always self-colored. To make them break, 

 that is, to vary their colors, the strangest methods were 

 resorted to : sometimes they were planted for one season 

 in a hot-bed, and the next in the poorest soil that could 

 be procured; and sometimes they were removed to a 

 distant county, twenty or thirty miles from where they 

 were first grown, and then brought back again. But, in 

 spite of all the care bestowed upon them, they were gen- 

 erally from seven to ten or twelve years before they showed 

 any symptoms of variegation, and some never did at all. 

 A more rational method is now pursued, and the seeds of 

 the handsomest tulips being saved, showy flowers are 

 frequently produced the second year, and bulbs of three 

 years old often produce flowers fit for winning prizes." 



The only species of tulip grown in the parlor are T. 

 oculis solis, with red flowers and a dark eye, and T. suavo- 

 lens, commonly called Due Van Thol, with scarlet and 

 yellow blossoms. These are both dwarf early species, 

 and make a dazzling, though transient show. They may 



