260 BULBS AND TUBEROUS-BOOTED PLANTS. 



other form in cultivation. The only change worthy a 

 varietal name was a " Sport," discovered by John Hen- 

 derson, of Flushing, N. Y., growing in his field, about 

 1870. A number of plants of strong habit of growth, 

 and with dark, broad foliage, attracted his attention, 

 and he determined to keep them apart from his main 

 stock, in order to see what the result would be. These 

 he cultivated in the same manner as his other bulbs. 

 Upon their flowering, he discovered a distinct type, of 

 dwarf habit, and much larger flowers. This he at once 

 named the " Pearl," and from the then small stock 

 the trade is now wholly supplied. What is known as 

 the "Excelsior" Pearl, is simply the "Pearl," and 

 nothing else. 



P. gracilis. — A native of Brazil. It has pale yel- 

 low flowers of small merit, and is but little known. 



P. tuberosa (Common Tuberose). — The earliest 

 account we have of this species is in L'Ecluse's "History 

 of Plants," from which we learn it was brought from 

 the Indies by Father Theophilus Minuti, a Christian 

 missionary, about the year 1530, who grew it in his gar- 

 dens near Toulon, France. Bernard Paludanus, a dis- 

 tinguished physician at Eome, grew it in 1594, having 

 obtained the roots from the priests, who had, previously, 

 refused the most earnest entreaties to part with it. At 

 this time the single species and the variety with varie- 

 gated foliage were the only ones in cultivation. 



Culture of the Tuberose. — The Tuberose is a 

 gross feeder, and succeeds best in a light loam, but will 

 grow in any soil, providing it is moist and rich ; rich it 

 must be, without regard to other conditions ; its com- 

 X>lete requisites are, heat, water and manure; if these 

 are proportionate, it matters not how much there may 

 be, the plants will consume it, and by their growth show 

 its importance. 



For field culture prepare the ground as for a crop of 

 potatoes ; plant in drills thirty inches apart, and place 



