19--' 
CONTEMPORARY WRITINGS, 
flowers are scarce, and, as it were, light up 
the beds and borders in the spring, when they 
greatly assist the more quiet, but splendid 
colours of the Hyacinth. It is certain, that 
for general complexion, and distant view, there 
is more variety in the early than in the late 
Tulips ; that is to say, the conspicuous colours 
that strike the eye are more diversified, 
although, if we examine closely, we should 
find that in detail the varieties in the late 
Tulips are more clearly defined. But early 
Tulips should be seen in full bloom, and all 
the varieties at once, and there can be nothing 
more desirable to give life and spirit to the 
small clumps that are hereafter to be filled 
with Verbenas, Heliotropes, and other summer 
flowers. There is not half the attention paid 
to these bulbs that they deserve. 
Making ok regulating Lawns. — It is as 
essential to trench the ground for lawns as for 
any other crops ; and they who attempt to 
beat, or roll, or level a pasture, to imitate a 
made lawn, will incur a very great loss of 
labour, besides only making a despicable job 
of it. It is true, that, by waiting for a long 
wet season, when the ground has got fairly 
saturated, we may do a good deal towards 
beating a plot level, and, by frequent mowings 
and heavy rollings, we may improve the face 
of even a rough common ; but when this is 
done as well as it can be done, only half the 
task is accomplished. To convert a mere pas- 
ture, such as that in parks, into a proper lawn, 
it is necessary, first, to beat and level, as well 
as possible, all the wet part in the autumn, and 
to keep mowing short. If the pasture, after 
this, is pretty much of a colour, and free from 
patches, let the whole be spread with road- 
drift, or sandy loam, enough to fill up all the 
hollows, and level it completely, so that in 
parts no grass will be seen, while in other 
parts the grass is scarcely disturbed. The 
spring growth will soon be through the road- 
sand, and forms a very level and much improved 
sward. But it frequently happens that the 
pasture is not all of a colour ; that, in conse- 
quence of the soil beneath, some of the grass 
will be coarse, and some fine ; some full of 
weeds, and some clean. In this case, as soon 
as the best has been made of the sward by 
beating, and rolling, and mowing, all the 
autumn, the entire surface ought to be cut 
into turves, three feet long, one foot wide, and 
an inch and a half thick". All of these that are 
clean, well grassed, and even, may be rolled 
up for use ; and all that are broken, or un- 
even, or rotten, or have bad herbage, must be 
wheeled away to rot for compost. The ground 
being cleaned, must be trenched, and levelled, 
and rolled, and the turfs be laid down as close 
together all over as it is possible to set them, 
and then be beaten and rolled. Thus may a 
pasture be converted to a lawn of the finest de- 
scription in one season. As, however, all the 
bad and spoiled turfs must be made good from 
some other part of the premises, or be pur- 
chased, or procured elsewhere, we need hardly 
say, that the more care that is used in cutting 
the turfs the better ; and if no other turf can 
be got without great inconvenience and ex- 
pense, let the entire of the old be used again; 
for, although it may have been coarse and 
bad in its undisturbed situation, it would 
greatly improve when, by the cutting of the 
turves, the tap roots of coarse weeds have been 
severed, and the constant mowing and rolling 
keeps discouraging things of rampant growth. 
Lawns should bemowed every week, or, at most, 
every fortnight in growing weather, and the 
grass swept off. They should also be heavily 
rolled after rain. If there are any places where 
coarse weeds grow, they must be extirpated by 
means of a small spade, which is almost like a 
chisel, at the end of a hoe-handle ; by pushing 
this in sloping, the root is cut, and the weed 
easily displaced, and most of them are got rid of 
by the bleeding of the root at all times after cut- 
ting. The Dandelion, as it is vulgarly called, 
has a tap root like the horse-radish ; and even 
small pieces will come up again if left in the 
ground ; but when the top has been taken off 
two or three times, as soon as the growth is 
made, two or three bleedings are the conse- 
quence ; and this kills the most stubborn 
enemy if persevered in a few times. 
Transmission of Bulbs. — Considering the 
number of bulbs which are annually brought 
to this country from foreign parts, it is a 
matter of some importance to know the best 
means of preparing them for transmission. 
Some bulbs, received from India, had been 
experimentally prepared, and were sent to the 
garden of the Horticultural Society for exa- 
mination. "We learn from the Society's 
Journal, that one half of the bulbs were 
simply wrapped in cotton, and packed in 
brown paper, while the other portion (the 
same kinds of bulbs) was encrusted in a kind 
of white wax, and covered with cotton like the 
others. When received in June 1844, those 
which were simply packed in cotton and brown 
paper had emitted roots, and the tops in most 
cases had grown considerably ; while those 
coated with wax remained quite firm, and as 
fresh as when first packed, although they had 
been confined in the wax three months. The 
bulbs transmitted in cotton began to grow 
first, but soon showed symptoms of debility ; 
while those sent in wax did not push till a 
month after they were potted, but then they 
grew strong and healthy. In one or two cases 
the bulbs perished in the cotton, while the 
same kind packed or coated in wax survived 
the journey. — 31. 
