78 BRECK'S BOOK OF FLOWERS. 



Double. These are of various brilliant red, yellow, and 

 mixed colors, but, like many other double flowers, are deemed 

 monsters, and not appreciated by flower fanciers, although they 

 have an elegant appearance, from their upright, tall, and firm 

 stems, and crowns of large, peony-shaped flowers ; and, when 

 scattered with the Parrot among the small shrubs and other 

 plants, in the borders of avenues and walks, or planted out in 

 separate beds, they have a pleasing effect. 



Breeders are such as have been procured from the seed, and 

 consist of one color, which is red, purple, violet, gray, brown, 

 black, yellow, or some other individual color, without any sort 

 of variation. These are cultivated in a rather poor and dry 

 soil, and become broken or variegated, in from one to twenty 

 years, and produce new varieties ; but so uncertain is the pros- 

 pect of a favorable result, that but few persons are willing to 

 make the experiment, by raising Tulips from seed, as probably 

 not one in a thousand, after so many years of patient cultiva- 

 tion, would exhibit anything remarkable or new. For this 

 reason, a new and superb Tulip commands a high price at the 

 present time in Europe. 



When a Tulip has broken, the colors are unchangeable, when 

 properly managed, and are perpetuated from offsets from the 

 parent bulb. Tulips become deteriorated by improper culture, 

 by feeding them too highly with stimulating manures. This 

 causes the colors to run together, and the flower becomes what 

 the florist denominates " foul," and they can only be restored 

 to their former beauty by planting in a pure, loamy soil for a 

 few years. 



A DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPERTIES OF A FINE LATE TULIP. 



The stem should be strong, elastic, and erect, and about 

 thirty inches above the surface of the bed. 



The flower should be large, and composed of six petals. 

 These should form almost a perfect cup, with a round bottom, 

 rather wider at the top. 



The thre exterior petals should be somewhat larger than 



