76 



THE BOOK OF GARDENING. 



Seymour, Duchess of Cambridge, and Princess Mary of Cambridge. 

 Tiiere were other varieties catalogued at the same time at fifty 

 guineas, twenty-one guineas, and ten guineas, respectively. Pro- 

 bably Mr. Groom died about this time, as his entire collection 

 of Tulips was sold by Messrs. Protheroe and Morris as they 

 stood in the rows, seven bulbs in a row ; but they realised poor 

 prices, the highest price given for a row being under seven 

 guineas. Mr. Groom was one of the leading cultivators. He 

 prepared his Tulip beds of rather poor sandy soil, and his 

 notion of good culture was to starve the roots so as to obtain 

 purity in the cup— that is, the base of the petals. 



The late Mr. Samuel Barlow, of Manchester, a leading northern 

 cultivator, did not believe in starving his Tulips. He says 

 " Purity and refinement are not achieved by starvation." 



The Tulip will grow and flower well in ordinary garden soil 

 which has been prepared by trenching it to the depth of i8in. 

 or more, and working in during the process a fair proportion of 

 decayed farmyard manure ; but there should be about 6in. of 

 good garden soil above the top layer of manure. It is very 

 desirable that the soil should be prepared some time before the 

 bulbs are inserted, so that it can be well-pulverised by exposure 

 to the air. If the soil is trenched up in September it might be 

 in good condition by the first week in November, which is a 

 very good time for planting. The old-fashioned system of 

 planting is a very good one. The bulbs were planted in beds 

 about 4ft. wide, with an alley between the beds i5in. to i8in. 

 wide. Each bed would contain seven rows of Tulips. The outer 

 rows should be 3in. from the edge of the beds, and if spaces of 

 yin. be allowed between the rows that would exactly fill up the 

 4ft. width. The bulbs should be inserted yin. apart, and about 

 5in. deep. If the ground is heavy, some sand ought to be 

 added to it and dug in, for it is well known that a sandy soil 

 suits the Tulip best. Although good results are obtained by 

 planting the Tulip in ordinary soil, it is well to suggest that if 

 time can be spared, and material is available, it is a good plan 

 to dig out the ordinary soil to the depth of 6in. or 8in., and 

 replace it with decayed fibrous loam well chopped up, and mixed 

 with some coarse sand. In this virgin mould the very best 

 results are attainable. The old florists also knew well to what 

 height certain varieties would grow. 



With seven rows in a bed, the centre row would be the fourth 

 from either side, and the florist arranged his bulbs into first, 



