492 THE PLEASURE, OR [SEPT. 



or Tulip compost; sow the seeds pretty thick and cover them about 

 half an inch deep. The depth of earth in each box should be at 

 least one foot, the bottoms of the boxes should be perforated with 

 holes, each about an inch in diameter, and covered with shells, in 

 order that any extra moisture may drain oft* thereby. The boxes 

 are then to be placed in a warm exposure, and will require no 

 water, or any other attention than the keeping of them perfectly 

 free from weeds, and slightly protecting them from frost, till the 

 spring following when the plants will appear. Early in May, 

 place the boxes in the shade, but not under the dropping or shade 

 of trees, and, in very dry weather, give the plants a small portion of 

 water ; but this should be administered sparingly, lest it should 

 rot the young bulbs. In June when the leaves are decayed sift 

 half an inch of fresh earth over that in the boxes, and on the ap- 

 proach of winter place them again in a warm exposure, where you 

 can give them some slight protection from severe frost. Continue 

 the same treatment winter and summer, till the month of June or 

 July in the third year ; the roots may then be taken up, dried and 

 treated in the same manner as directed for large bulbs or offsets in 

 pages 383 and 384: a few of the strongest roots will flower the 

 fourth year, about one half may be expected to flower the fifth, but 

 the sixth year every healthy root will exhibit its bloom, and then 

 the hopes and expectations of the cultivator will be realized or 

 disappointed. He may, however, think himself fortunate, if one 

 half of the plants that first appeared, are in existence at this period; 

 and if he can at last find one Tulip or Hyacinth in five hundred 

 deserving a name, or a place in a good collection, he may rest per- 

 fectly content. 



The Tulips raised from seed, will each consist of one plain colour, 

 on a white, dark, or yellow bottom ; the period of their breaking into 

 different stripes is very uncertain, so much so, that is not uncom- 

 mon to wait ten or twenty years without the desired success, al- 

 though it sometimes happens, fortunately, to take place the first, 

 second, or third year after their blooming ; where the collection of 

 breeders is numerous (a name given to those self couloured Tulips) 

 there may be reasonable expectations of procuring one or two 

 valuable flowers annually : a poor dry soil is most likely to produce 

 these effects ; and a single instance has occured where forty 

 breeders out of fifty became broken or variagated in one season, in 

 a situation of this description. 



New sorts of breeders are procured from seed, but such only as 

 have tall strong stems, with large well formed cups, and clear in 

 the bottom, are worth cultivating. 



Note, The various kinds of tender bulbous-rooted flowering 

 plants, may me propagated as above directed, but the boxes in 

 which the seedlings grow, must be placed in a Greenhouse or 

 Hot -house in winter, according to the respective necessities of the 

 various kinds. 



