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OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



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border, near a wall or other shelter; and others will succeed 

 them, so that they will keep flowering until the general 

 season for these flowers is come, which is towards the end of 

 April. As these early-blowers are few in comparison with 

 the others, Mr. Miller gives the names of forty-one of the 

 principal. By those names, the roots were to be obtained in 

 Flanders and Holland, where the florists are very exact in 

 keeping up their lists of flowers complete. The several 

 varieties of early-blowing Tulips, rise to different heights 

 in their stems, and scarcely any two of them are equal. The 

 Duke Van Toll, (the second species,) which is one of the 

 first that appears in the spring, is generally very short-stalked, 

 and the others, in proportion to their earliness, are shorter 

 than those which succeed them ; and the late-blowers are 

 all considerably longer in their stems than any of the early- 

 blowers, so that when they are mixed together confusedly, 

 they make a very indifferent appearance. The late-blowing 

 Tulips producing much finer flowers than the early ones, have 

 engrossed almost the whole attention of the florists. It would 

 be to little purpose to enumerate all the varieties, since there 

 is scarcely any end of their numbers, and what some value 

 at a considerable rate, others reject; and as there are annu- 

 ally many new flowers obtained from breeders, those which 

 are old, if they have not very good properties to recommend 

 them, are thrown out and despised. The late-blowers are 

 distributed into five families. 1. Primo Baguets : very tall ; 

 fine cups with white bottoms, well broken with fine brown, 

 and all from the same breeder. 2. Baguets Rigauts : not 

 quite so tall, but with strong stems, and very large well- 

 formed cups with white bottoms, well broken with fine brown, 

 and all from the same breeder. 3. Incomparable Verports : 

 a particular kind of Bybloemens, with most perfect cups, very 

 fine white bottoms, well broken with shining brown, and all 

 from the same breeder. 4. Byblmmens : with bottoms white, 

 or nearly so, from different breeders, and broken with a 

 variety of colours : those of the Verports are cherry and rose. 

 5. Bizarres: ground yellow, from different breeders, and 

 broken with a variety of colours. The above barbarous names 

 are parfjy French and partly Dutch, and ustd by the Dutch 

 florists. Breeders mean of one colour, which when broken 

 produce new varieties. The properties of a fine variegated 

 late Tulip, according to the best modern florists, are these : 

 The stem should be strong;, upright, and tall, about thirty 

 inches high. The flowers should be large, composed of six 

 petals, proceeding a little horizontally at first, and then turn- 

 ing upwards, so as to form an almost perfect cup, with a 

 round bottom, rather wider at the top. The three outer petals 

 should be rather larger than the three inner ones, and broader 

 attheba^e; all the petals should have the edges perfectly 

 entire ; the top of each should be broad and well rounded ; 

 the ground colour at the bottom of the cup should be clear 

 white or yellow, and the various rich stripes, which are the 

 principal ornament of a fine flower, should be regular, bold, 

 and distinct on the margin, and terminate in fine broken 

 points, elegantly feathered or pencilled. The centre of each 

 petal should contain one or more bold blotches or stripes, 

 intermixed with small portions of the original colour, abruptly 

 broken into many irregular obtuse points. Some florists are 

 of opinion that the central stripes or blotches do not contri- 

 bute to the beauty of the Tulip, unless they be confined to a 

 narrow stripe exactly down the centre ; and that they should 

 be perfectly free from any remains of the original colour: it 

 is certain that such flowers appear very beautiful and deli- 

 cate, especially when they have a regular narrow feathering 

 at the edge; but it is unanimously agreed, that the Tulip 

 should abound in rich colouring, distributed in a distinct 

 ;VOL. n. 125. 



and regular manner throughout the flower, except in the 

 bottom of the cup, which ought indisputably to be of a clear 

 bright white or yellow, free from stain or tinge, in order 

 to constitute a perfect flower. Towards the middle of the 

 seventeenth century the Tulip became an object of consi- 

 derable trade, and the price of the roots rose higher than 

 that of the most precious metals. It was principally car- 

 ried on in the Netherlands, and was at its height in the years 

 1634, 5, 6, and 7. For one root of a variety called the 

 Viceroy, articles to the value of 2500 florins were agreed 

 to be delivered. The Semper Augustus has been often sold 

 for 2000 florins; one person agreed to give 4600 florins, 

 with a new carriage, two horses, and a complete harness, 

 and another agreed to give 12 acres, for a single root. The 

 trade was generally fpllowed for a time ; but it was a mere 

 gambling business, rightly named Tulipomania, or Tulip 

 Madness. The Tulip is a native of the Levant, is common 

 in Syria, and is supposed by some to be the Lily of the 

 fields alluded to by our blessed Saviour. In Persia, where 

 it is abundant, they consider it 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 colour 

 of the flower, that he is on fire with her beauty; and by the 

 black base of it, that his heart was burnt to a coal. Chardin 

 saw it on the northern confines of Arabia. Rauwolf found 

 it at Aleppo, and on Mount Libanus; Shaw, between Jaffa 

 and Rama; Bushequius, between Adrianople and Constan- 

 tinople, every where in abundance, with Narcissus, Hya- 

 cinths, &c. in the middle of winter. It grows also in Mace- 

 donia, Thrace, and the Crimea. According to Clusius, the 

 early-blowing flowers were brought to Constantinople from 

 Cavala, a town on the eastern coast of Macedonia; and the 

 late-blowing ones from Caffa, a town in the Crimea. Pro- 

 pagation and Culture. The roots of early-blowing Tulips 

 should be planted at the beginning of September, in a warm 

 border, near a wall, pale, or hedge ; because, if they be 

 put into an open spot of ground, their buds are in danger of 

 suffering by early frosts in the spring. The soil for these 

 should be renewed every year. The best soil for this purpose 

 is that which has been 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 at a greater depth than four or 

 five inches. 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 if 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 more 

 tender than the late-blowers, and do not increase half so 

 fast, hence greater care is required to preserve their offsets. 

 When these Tulips come up in the spring, the earth upon 

 the surface of the borders should be gently stirred and 

 cleared of the weeds, and as the buds appear, if the season 

 should be very severe, it will be of great use 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, because their roots, which are 

 formed new every year, are not at that time arrived to their 

 full magnitude, and are thereby deprived of the necessary 

 nourishment. If, when these flowers are blown, the season 

 should prove very warm, it will be proper to shade them 

 with mats in the heat of the day, as well as in the frosty 

 nights, which will preserve their beauty ; but when the flow- 

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