THM TULIF. 67 



The highest catalogue in-'u:e o£ a single bulb in late 

 years is L'H), this being the sum named by the late 

 ill'. Lawrence for a bulb of Charles ^^'illiams ; and it 

 might be that the variety was entered at a. higher price 

 than any one would pay to keep down the demand until a 

 reasonable stock could be secured by propagating. In the 

 catalogue of tulips issued by a well-known tlorist there 

 are iloi sorts named. The highest price for any one is 

 6;3s., and at this price there are three entered — namely^ 

 Everard, Duchess of Cambridge, and Gem of Gems. A 

 considerable number of noted sorts are entered at from 

 :2s. 6d. to 5s. each ; and the aggregate of the jirices of the 

 'loi sorts is -tSl, less 6d., or an average of a fraction 

 nnder 7s. each. A thoroughly good bed of tidips may be 

 purchased for £60 ; and those who enter upon tulip culture 

 cautiously and with good judgment may in a few years 

 accumulate a collection of real merit, at considerably less 

 cost than will appear from these considerations. 



But the lover of gay garden flowers need not enter into 

 these considerations, for the early tulips, which the florists 

 do not recognise, are better adapted for grouping in beds 

 and growing in pots for the conservatory than th.e late or 

 exhibition tulips ; and the best of these may be purchased 

 at 15s. per 100, and if named varieties are not wanted, 

 for half that rate. As the history led us into the money 

 question, it appieai'ed a matter of duty to intimate that a 

 short purse might cover a long list of tulips. But here we 

 must quit the subject, and this completes the history. 



In this country tulips are found to thrive best in sandy 

 loam enriched with a moderate amount of rotten hot-bed 

 manure and leaf-mould. A rank soil, such as would suit 

 cauliflowers, is above all things to be avoided, and wherever 



