HORTICULTURE. 



595 



T ._ ?. 



leave* these tuutiaaa green for about two months, 

 and then radoaHy decay, so that they entirely disap- 

 pear in Jmne. After another year, the small bulbs are 

 raised, and-tran<planted into a nursery bed, two inches 

 deep, and at two inc&e* apart. If the bed be in an ex- 

 pvsed situation, haulm or mats are placed over it during 

 the severity of winter. In this bed the bulbs remain 

 for the third and fourth year*. They are then raised, 

 kept some short time out of the earth, and transplant- 

 ed to another bed, in which they are placed four inch- 

 es Hi I fi-re they uianin other two yean ; and 



in this interval many at them tK^in w hw flowers. 

 .Such as have tall items and rounded petal* are now 

 transferred to a separate bed, and treated like full grown 

 bulbs; and after they have flowered for two or three 

 yean, their real value may be pretty nearly ascertain, 

 ed : If they be. very promising, that is, tall, well sha- 

 ped, with clear bottoms, and self-coloured, they are re- 

 tained for a longer time, in expectation of improve- 

 ment. A few come finely striped at once, and are of 

 coarse retained ; but these are apt quickly to degene- 

 rate. Those that appear with short stems and sharp- 

 pointed petal* are rejected without hesitation. 



The tendency to break is promoted in the breeders, 

 by shifting the bulb* every season*: ito different kinds of 

 soil, and placing them in different Staariona, The soils 

 leefeiltd are such as are fmh, bat poor, dry and Huxly. 

 The compost recommended by Miller consists of a third 

 part fresh earth from old pasture bod, having the 

 ; ward rotted with it ; a third part i>* asnrl ; and a 

 thin) part old lime rubbish sifted, all well mixed and 

 frequently turned. The beds are made two feet deep, 

 and the bulbs are planted in drills about four inches 

 deep, and six or seven inches from each other in every 

 direction. When a bnsikf break* completely, losing 

 all traces of its selUcoloar. and continuing till the pe- 

 tals decay without shewing any tendency to return to 

 its termer colour, it is marked, named and enrolled 

 amonif the choice tuHp, and kaooWtJ are earefolly pre- 

 served. A tulip when it breaks never attain* the height 

 or sie of the breeder ; if a breeder be three feet high, 

 does not exceed two, and the 



its variegated progeny does not exceed two, and the 

 flower U proportionally lee*. Whether the breaking is 

 the OMue or the cenaeoutnet of debility, does not ap- 

 pear ; hut it seems to be a general fact, that variegated 

 flower* or plants are more tender than snefa a* are plain. 



I h* (lirrftioi 1 * t -r tfi-* plHltiejSJ and niam^* v-;!t of 



breeders are afpficable to striped toKps in general. A 

 practice net uncommon with garden*** t here be 

 Limisnm ' , it i* ue punting of tulip bulbs with a 

 dibble. This ought never to be done. The pressure 

 of the dibble render* the earth compact where it ought 

 to be loose, and hi many cases a partial hollow mint 

 remain below the butt), which it particularly injurious 

 when wet weather follows, and moisture lodge* about 

 theroot. It i* better when drills are formed, *ix or 

 even inches deep, and the bulb* covered in with 

 the loos* earth. A still more proper way i*, to prepare 

 the bed some inches lower than it U intended ultimate- 

 ly to be ; to put the bulbs in their place* on the sor. 

 face ; and then to add the necessary quantity of soil 

 I i-. improved by being made to slope a little 

 bom the centre to each side ; the stronger bulb* should 

 be situated in the middle, as they thus receive the 



and storms, and afterwards, when the season of flower- 

 ing arrives, covered by an awning of thin canvas. In 

 this way only can the delicate colours be fairly brought 

 out ; even half an hour's full exposure to the sun's rays 

 has been known to alter them ; besides, the enjoyment 

 of the fine sisjht is prolonged for near a month. Though 

 the scent of the tulip is so slight as scarcely to be per- 

 ceptible in single specimens, the united odour of so 

 many, confined in some measure by the cover, becomes 

 quite evident. Watering is scarcely ever necessary for 

 tulips. The seed-pods of all fine tulips are cut off as 

 soon as they appear ; for these, as already said, are by 

 no means the best from which to procure seed, and the 

 bulbs exhaust themselves in forming them. The bulbs 

 arc lifted in the course of the month of June, the proper 

 time being ascertained by observing when the foliage has, 

 decayed, and two or three inches at the top of the stem 

 begin to acquire a purple tinge. If they be left longer 

 in the earth, the flowers are apt to become foul the next 

 season. The bulbs arc cleaned, and laid in a dry place 

 till October. The offsets, chives, or babies, are taken 

 off and marked, in September ; these are planted in a 

 separate bed, not so deep as the parent bulbs, and 

 about a month earlier. It may be remarked, that all 

 you* bulbs or offsets that are of a round shape, 

 though small, may be considered as likely to produce 

 flowwm. The general time of planting old bulbs ia 

 the end of October or beginning of November. At 

 tin* time the outer brown skin is carefully stripped 

 from the bulb, which is committed to the ground in a 

 bare and dean state. By the end of February most of 

 the tulip* appear above ground : the surface is at this 

 tirrcd with the fingers, aided perhaps by 



Cttalv 



thickest covering of soil, which they ought to have. 

 In all the mode* ef jl n a good rule to put a 



little dry and fine sand around each bulb. 



495 "The bed of choice tulip* i*, by the true florist, 



t first protected by hoops and mats, from hail showers rosy ; orange 



a little bit of stick ; this stirring tending greatly to' pro. 

 mote their health and growth. 



The finest and most extensive collections of tulips in 

 this country at present, are probably those of Davy, 

 nurseryman, King's Road, and uf Millikcn, florist at 

 Walworth, both near London. Some private collec- 

 tors, however, principally near the metropolis, have 

 small beds of very fine and select kinds. 



Ranunculia. 



496. This well known flower (Ranunculus Aiiatictii) 

 is a native of the Levant and of the Greek Islands. It 

 was cultivated by Oerorde in the end of the 1 (5th cen- 

 trjr. Very many new varieties of singular beauty 

 have been raised from semi-double flowers, both in this 

 country and in Holland : some of these possess also 

 considerable fiagraucc. A judicious and industrious 

 cultivator of this plant near Edinburgh (Mr .lohn 

 Fletcher, superintendant of experiments to the Cale- 

 donian Horticultural Society) ha* excelled many of hi* 

 cotemporarie* in the number of his distinct and well 

 marked varieties, and the beauty of his flowers, many 

 of which have been raised from seed by himself during 

 the last thirty year*. He plants each variety in a row, 

 or sometimes in two row*, by itself, in narrow beds, 

 divided by small path* ; each distinct variety has a 

 numbered tally, and the number of choice sorts ex. 

 ceeds 180; the proper contrast of colours is stu< 

 and the whole, when in full flower, produces a very 

 brilliant effect. By some florists the varieties r,r. 

 down till they extend to many hundreds, so that it h.-is 

 been found difficult to invent names Cur them. Mr 

 Maddock divides the colour* into twelve families: Dark 



Flowtr 

 Garden. 



and dark purple ; light purple and grey; crimson ; reds ; 

 ; yellow and yellow spotted; 'white and 



