572 



HISTORY OF THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 



1, 

 imni 



of the bed, and when the petals of manj' 

 ilowers begin to drop off, the awnings should be 

 taken down and the mats replaced as before, to 

 throw off heavy rains. As the leaves and petals 

 arii "^ ^''°"^ '^ plant, the seed vessel should be 

 -ind"S'''«*«'y '"■"ken off from the stem; for if 



ora'h'S remain, it will delay the maturity of 

 sutterea . , '-^^ the root considerably. The bed 

 It, and weakt ^ J. |, ^tate about a fortnight longer, 

 may remam m till" „„ „_ /: v .,, , " ' 



,•',.,,. ,, - .1 bl? or foliage will become 



by which time the eral . t ., . , 



i „ . , , s ->Ii s pTiO or three inches 



of a yellowish brown; and v> ' -.^ j 



ui rt vt:iiu»>iaii uiuwii; uiiu L>. *, -,u j 



Of the top of the stem willlf J.''^-''''^:^;';^^ 

 and become purplish. This denotes the", 

 period to take up the roots, because if donS;'^''^' 

 earlier they will be weak and spongy, and if 

 deferred later, their juices will become gross. 

 This will be apparent at the succeeding bloom 

 by too great a redundance of colour in the petals, 

 and the flowers being what is generally termed 

 foul. 



The early dwarf varieties are best adapted 

 for forcing in pots and water glasses. The bulbs 

 are to be treated in the same way as described 

 for hyacinths; and after blowing, they are to be 

 recovered by putting them into earth. Tulip 

 bulbs are liable to few diseases, and are in gen- 

 eral healthy. If attacked by the grub or wire- 

 woi-m, the bulb must be totally removed, and 

 replaced bj' a fresh one. A fungus sometimes 

 attacks the bulb, and in this case transplanta- 

 tion into a fresh soil is necessary. 



The Ranunculus Cr. asiatieusj. Natural 

 family ranunculacece ; polj/andria, polygynia, of 

 Linnsus. The wild ranunculus crow foot, or 

 butter cups, are a well known family of weeds, 

 of which there are many species. The garden 

 ranunculus is esteemed as being a double flower, 

 and as possessed of great beauty, and variety of 

 colours of the numerous petals. It is a native 

 of the Levant. The leaves, which are bipartite, 

 spring from a bunch of tubers. The stem is 

 erect, branched, and the flowers are terminal. 

 It was introduced into Britain by Gerard, in 

 1596, and soon became a favourite in the flower 

 garden. No flower is so prolific in varieties. 

 Maddock enumerates not less than eight hundred 

 sorts; and he states that a variety will last for 

 twenty-five years. 



The necessary qualities of a perfect double 

 ranunculus are a strong straight stem, from 

 eight to twelve inches in height, supporting a 

 large, well formed blossom, at least two inches 

 in diameter; consisting of numerous petals, the 

 largest at the outside, and gradually diminishing 

 in size as they approach the centre, which should 

 be well filled up with them. The blossom 

 should be of a hemispherical form; its compon- 

 ent petals should be laid over each other in such 

 a manner as neither to be too close and compact, 

 nor too widely separated, but have rather more 

 of a perpendicular than horizontal direction, 



to display their colours with better effect. The 

 petals should be broad, and have perfectly entire, 

 well rounded edges; their colours should be dark, 

 clear, rich, or brilliant, either consisting of one 

 colour throughout, or otherwise variously diver- 

 sified on an ash white sulphur, or fire coloured 

 ground, or regularly striped, spotted, or mottled 

 in an elegant manner. 



The ranunculus is propagated by seed for 

 obtaining new varieties, and for perpetuating 

 approved sorts by offsets, or by dividing the 

 tubers into as many portions as there are eyes. 

 According to Maddock, the seeds in no instance 

 ever produce two flowers alike, or the same as 

 the original stock. He directs it to be saved 

 froii^® "£>?uch half double flowers as have tall strong 

 stems afli'-t^onsiderable number of large, well 

 formed petals 1''' ^"'^ "ch.good colours, the darker 

 chiefly to be prefe. *«'*'«'^' *'»°"Sh not to the exclu- 

 sion of a proportion «'«i^ lighter coloured, if good. 

 The seed should remain-ta'"" ^^^ P^«"' *'!! '' ^^ 

 lost its verdure, and beccP"'™"=^ ^'"O"'" 8"^ dry. 

 It may then be cut off andF •'' ^P^'f^*! '''^"'oad «Pon 

 paper, and exposed to the F^^""' ^''a' >' "^^^V ^^ 

 thoroughly dried, after whictfO» '^ sl'0"W be put 

 into a bag, and preserved in a t'^^'a™, dry place. 

 The seed may be sown in Oct'.o"''" or January, 

 in beds prepared with frames i. """^ glasses. It 

 should be strewed thickly on the^- surface of the 

 prepared soil, and then covered ^?n''''"l a sprink- 

 ling of mould, not exceeding in r'at'iickness the 

 eighth of an inch. The plants us "ally appear 

 in about a month. They are regulai*' ^ watered, 

 and air is admitted day and night, ^^'^^^ept in 

 severe frosts when they are covered with omatting. 

 In summer the roots are taken up and preia'^^r^ed 

 till the following February, when they are plaPpted 

 with the general stock. '^o 



The offsets from the tubers of the ranunculus, '"' 

 unlike those from the hyacinth and tulip, will 

 flowerthe same season in which they are removed. 

 In minutely examining the crown of a tuber, 

 several small protuberances will be found, from 

 each of which a shoot will arise, and the root 

 may therefore be divided by a sharp knife into 

 as many parts as there are protuberances; but 

 these sections will not blow till the second 

 year. 



The best soil for the ranunculus is a fresh, 

 strong loam, with a quantity of rotten cow 

 dung; the situation of the bed should be open, 

 but not too much exposed to high winds, or 

 currents of air. The bed should be about eigh- 

 teen inches in depth, and raised about four inches 

 above the walk. The dung should be put five 

 inches below the surface, the soil above this 

 being kept perfectly free from manure. Fresh, 

 full tubers, with prominent buds, are to be 

 selected; and the time of planting may be either 

 in the end of autumn, or early in spring. If the 

 soil and situation be very cold and wet, it will 



