192 Remarks on the cultivation of the Tulip. 



made, and the error is corrected at the time of planting, or an 

 alteration is made in the book, to correspond with the bed. 

 This may appear a troublesome and difficult task, but it is not 

 so; the plan is simple, and may with ease be put into practice. 

 When only a (ew tulips are cultivated, they may be readily 

 kept in bags, as may those grown in mixtures, without names, 

 at all times, whatever may be the number cultivated. 



Remarks. — The English florists have written much about 

 protecting the tulip against the frost, and on this account, ra- 

 ther than from my own experience of its necessity in this 

 country, I have presented a suitable "protection during win- 

 ter," which will certainly do no injury, and may, when the 

 soil is subject to heave, do much good. The tulip is, in my 

 opinion, a very hardy plant, and not subject to injury by our 

 most severe winters, when planted in a suitable soil, and in a 

 proper location. 



Offsets should be planted from the 1st to the 20th of Octo- 

 ber, two inches deep and three inches apart, in the same man- 

 ner as the longer bulbs. 



The rays of the sun are very injurious to the bulb of the 

 tulip; they should therefore be covered up as the planting pro- 

 gresses; they should also be taken under cover as soon as 

 possible after they are taken up. 



It is the practice of some to ])lant with a dibble, or, as it is 

 sometimes termed, a dibber. This plan is often injurious, as 

 it compresses the soil too firmly round the sides of the bulbs; 

 and unless the bulb is fairly planted, and the hole made by the 

 dibble completely filled up, water finds a lodgement there, and 

 rots the roots. In the planting, the bulbs should be so ar- 

 ranged that the varieties with the highest stems should be 

 placed in the centre of the bed, that is, in row No. 4, and the 

 others decreasing in height progressively to each side of the 

 bed. When grown in mixtures, and without names, this can- 

 not be accomplished; but when purchased by name and cata- 

 logue, they can readily be so arranged, and their various colors 

 intermixed, as the height and color of each variety is always 

 designated in the catalogue of every good cultivator. 



The loose skin, fibres, and such offsets as are easily sep- 

 arated from the bulbs, should be taken off in August, observ- 

 ing not to leave the roots too bare. The last brown skin, 

 which is intimately connected with the root, should remain on 



