142 ON FLOWERS. 



some half dozen varieties, say the Hiimei, Whitleii, Fragra7is, 

 Revesii, Potisii, Festiva^ ^'c. These are all perfectly hardy. 

 You may aleo put into your borders, unless you prefer to make 

 a regular bed of them, a goodly show of Tulips^ putting them, 

 (if in the border.) in groups of a dozen or so, in a small circle, 

 say eighteen inches in diameter, with one or two near the cen- 

 tre, and the rest in the circumference, say six inches apart. 



If you prefer planting them across a bed, select a portion of 

 any length you choose, and about four feet wide. Make the 

 soil of this part not by any means rich, but let there be a rather 

 good share of sand dug in, for if it be too rich, the colors of 

 your tulips will run into each other, and mar the beauty of the 

 whole. After the bed is ready, let it settle down for few days, 

 — and then, (October is the time for planting Tulips, and rath- 

 er late in the month.) with the end of a round stick, make a 

 row of holes seven inches apart, down the middle of the bed, 

 and then on each side of this central row, make three other 

 rows, seven inches from row to row, and seven inches apart. 

 You will thus have seven rows ; and into each hole drop a Tu- 

 lip, to such a depth that the top of the Tulip shall be four 

 inches from the surface of the ground. Cover them in and 

 leave them for the winter, protecting the bed with some loose 

 litter from the stable. When the returning sun shall have 

 opened the gates of spring, take off the litter, and let the Tu- 

 lips start to the air, and by the middle of May, you shall have 

 a sight " gude fot^ sair e'e/z," as the Scotchman said. Care- 

 ful cultivators take them up every year, about the last of June, 

 others let them stay a year more. When taken up, the bnlbs 

 will be found to have multiplied. Put them away in a dry 

 place, till October, when plant again as above. When you 

 buy your Tulips, never buy at auctio7i. In fact, nev^er buy 

 any bulbs or plants at auction, unless you have a fancy for be- 

 ing cheated. Believe one loho has tried it and suffered.* 



Across one of the beds, in drills six or seven inches apart, 

 you may sow, in the month of October, for blooming in the 

 next summer, the seeds of the Rocket Larkspur, and nothing 

 in your garden will make a finer show. Sow also, in early 



* Credite experto — Virgil. 



