THE NEW TULIP-GROWING 169 



that the most important item, beyond texture of soil, in 

 producing fine Tulips is moisture. These noble plants 

 love large quantities of water, in fact, too much can 

 hardly be given. With abundance of moisture in spring 

 they will not only produce huge clumps of foliage and 

 bloom the flower-stems perhaps rising thirty inches high 

 but they will likewise form large bulbs for the next 

 year's flowering, which would be found at an advanced 

 stage of development if the plants were lifted in 

 June. 



With a large, sound bulb the Tulip is guarded against 

 nearly every ill. So fortified, the plants will endure hard- 

 ships that an inexperienced grower would regard as over- 

 whelming. Tulip-lovers in most parts of Great Britain 

 had an extraordinary experience in the spring of 1911. 

 After a long spell of mild weather in March, which brought 

 the plants into an advanced stage of growth, with an 

 ample spread of tender foliage, a terrible blizzard sprang 

 up in April and raged for several successive days. The 

 Tulips were literally blasted. The foliage was wilted and 

 blackened. Then a singular thing happened. Dry, mild, 

 but windy weather followed. The affected patches on 

 the Tulip foliage shrivelled, and were blown off by the 

 wind, leaving the plants once more green. Three or four 

 weeks after the blizzard the evidence of its evil work 

 had disappeared. Nor was the flowering seriously im- 

 paired, to the best of my judgment. It is true that when 

 the flower-stems first appeared they were so puny, and 

 the buds so small, that a poor blooming season seemed 

 to be inevitable. But they improved as they developed. 

 It was as though the bulb below gathered fresh energy 

 with every succeeding day. Ultimately the plants were 

 as good as ever. 



The recuperative power of the May-flowering Tulip, 



