THE ENGLISH OR FLORIST'S TULIP. 



fill the places of bulbs which have lost character, and become too full of 

 colour or otherwise degenerated. When the drawers have been cleaned 

 up and the oftsets detached they should bo stored in a cool dry place until 

 the time comes round for rearrangement, when one can reject the unworthy 

 and replace them with new stock preparatory to planting again. It will 

 thus be seen that the routine of cultivation is not heavy, and even a large 

 collection is well within the management of an amateur. The planting 

 and lifting are rather tedious, and can rarely be done properly except by 

 the amateur, for few working gardeners can be trusted to keep tho bulbs 

 in their proper places. 



The Tulip has few enemies to contend with : wire-worm is capable of 

 eating out the heart of a bulb, rats and mice sometimes destroy bulbs 

 when out of the ground, and 1 have had a bed ravaged by an incursion 

 of moles ; but in a general way there are no insect pests to fear. The 

 Tulip disease one hears of sometimes, seems to be a common fungus 

 which starts above ground, where a leaf has been wounded by hail or 

 frost, and by spreading downward results in the decay of the bulb. A con- 

 fined situation and wet undrained ground are tho places where it is most 

 in evidence ; it also seems to run 'more freely where there is a deficiency 

 of lime in the soil. On cold and especially on sour soils a good dressing 

 of lime or mortar rubbish should be incorporated with the soil before 

 planting, and a dressing of basic slag at the rate of ] lb. per squaro yard 

 will greatly benefit the health of the bulbs. 



Jn conclusion, I should like to press the claims of the Florist's Tulip 

 on the attention of the amateur : the fancy has fallen upon evil days and 

 the old school of growers is sadly diminished, but with the new love of 

 flowers that is springing up, there must be plenty of gardeners to revive 

 so old and distinguished a cult. Tho days of fancy prices for bulbs 

 are over, a good working collection is easily obtained, and I and tho 

 members of the Tulip Society will be only too glad to put intending 

 growers in the way of making a start if ;i, hitter be addressed to me under 

 cover of the Royal Horticultural Society. The growth of tho Tulip even 

 on a comparatively large scale does not demand too much space ; four 

 beds, each 30 X 4 feet, will easily grow 2,000 bulbs, enough to furnish 

 bloom for exhibition in any company; nor is the flower fastidious jibout 

 soil, or susceptible to a suburban or even a smoky atmosphere. The 

 charm of the flower, with its traditions and its unique development, is a 

 very special one that grows from year to year ; and if its inconstancy 

 and the uncertainty of getting a perfect bloom from tho same stock two 

 years in succession are exasperating, yet there are always compensations 

 in the unexpected return of other bulbs to good manners, which gives a 

 touch of excitement to the unfolding of every flower. As to the beauty 

 of a bed of Tulips in full bloom in the sunshine, tho feast of colour and 

 of form realised then rather than on the exhibition table, it has onco 

 been described by a master hand, and I cannot do better than transcribe 

 the words of Steele, written two hundred years ago : — 



" Sometimes I considered them with tho oye of an ordinary spectator, 

 as so many beautiful objects varnished over with a natural gloss and 

 stained with such a variety of colours as are not to be equalled in any 

 artificial dyes or tinctures. Sometimes I considered every leaf as an 



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