412 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



" Dutch Bulbs and Gardens." Painted by Mima Nixon. Described 

 by Una Silberrad and Sophie Lyall. 8vo., 176 pp. (Black, London, 

 1909.) 7s. Qd. net. 



This instructive volume treats of the cultivation of bulbs in Holland, 

 the cultivators and their methods, and the charms of the bulb district 

 when the flowers cover the ground with stretches of brilliant colouring, 

 which is emphasized to a degree by the beautifully reproduced drawings. 



Miss Una Silberrad describes the cultivation of bulbs and the ways of 

 the growers with no lack of imagination, but one feels that a longer 

 acquaintance would have resulted in a less highly coloured eulogy to 

 that pattern of industry and virtue, the Dutch bulb-grower. Not 

 the least interesting of Miss Silberrad's work are the historical 

 sketches of the more familiar of our bulbs, and the many and 

 careful references to the works of Parkinson, Olusius and others of the 

 older writers are cleverly woven into pleasing contentions, and, although 

 one may not always agree with the deductions, there is much to learn and 

 much that adds a greater interest to the flowers we love. In treating of 

 the cultivation of the Hyacinth Miss Silberrad makes no mention of a 

 practice known as " Stoking " ; how the bulbs are placed in a kind of huge 

 oven, the great heat of which has the effect of retarding the natural and 

 healthy sprouting of the bulbs, which, when planted, make their appearance 

 above the ground two or three weeks later than those untreated. This fact 

 alone would account for the certain failure of these bulbs when under the 

 severe strain of forcing. This matters but little to the unscrupulous 

 grower whose only desire is to produce saleable bulbs in the shortest 

 possible time, placing them on the market at least a year sooner than 

 those produced without artificial treatment, for these " stoked " bulbs 

 swell in a prodigious manner, but they have not that solidity and weight 

 of well grown bulbs, and the bloom, always the last to develop, remains 

 weak and inconsiderable. But it would be unfair to condemn the whole 

 for the few, for there are many true men and wise whom no inducement, 

 however lucrative, would tempt to produce Hyacinths which they knew 

 were worthless, and from which could not be expected the perfect big 

 trussed flower, and who are making every effort to suppress this method, 

 knowing that it spells ruin to the industry. 



The 24 illustrations portray the unique and kaleidoscopic appearance 

 of the bulb fields of Holland when covered with blooms of that bright 

 fresh colouring in which spring flowering bulbous plants seem to excel 

 more vividly than the most lucid description would make to appear 

 possible, and Miss Mima Nixon has treated the subject with great freedom, 

 a subject which, in the hands of a less skilful artist, might have the 

 semblance of a multi-coloured chessboard. "A Crocus Field," facing 

 page 40, is a pleasing soft suffusion of mauve, and partakes of that 

 freshness of early spring which is reflected so vividly by masses of this 

 beautiful flower. "Darwin " Tulips, facing page 100, is also a fascinating 

 drawing ; the superior height of these Tulips is cleverly emphasized by 

 their shadows thrown upon the path by the bright May sun. 



The drawings are all beautifully reproduced, and well illustrate the 

 perfection of modern half-tone printing. 



