FLOWER GARDEN AND SHRUBBERY. 
437 
Tulip Beds should be emptied of their soil 
pretty early, and by this time, by constant 
turning and watching for enemies at each 
operation, the mould will have become sweet- 
ened, and the wireworm, grub, or other 
enemy, will have disappeared. The bed should 
be two feet cleared out; and now, after giving 
about two inches thick of decayed dung all 
over the bottom, the soil may be crumbled in, 
and the whole left in its place, in the form of 
a high ridge, to settle down. At planting time, 
— which may be any time this month, or 
next, but we prefer the present, the super- 
fluous soil may be taken off with the spade, 
and the bed levelled (so as to allow of four 
inches being placed on the top of the bulbs), 
and the top smoothed with a fine rake. This 
enables us to make the marks to guide the 
planting ; and the proper mode of doing this, 
is to draw a mark the length of the bed down 
the centre, by stretching the garden line in 
the right place, and then with the back of the 
rake pressing it into the soil, so as to leave 
its mark, which is necessarily straight ; then 
remove it six inches at a time, and make 
three lines of each side of the centre ; this 
makes seven straight marks down the length 
of the bed. The cross marks may be made 
with a piece of straight stick, or a rod, which 
will reach from side to side, and two persons, 
one on each side, make these marks by mea- 
suring the places, six inches apart, all down 
the bed; and when they have adjusted the rod, 
press it a little; then the bed is made ready to 
receive the bulbs, which are then placed in 
from the boxes in which they have been 
arranged, exactly in the same positions; press 
the bulbs a little into the soil, so as to make 
them stand upright, and cover them with four 
inches -of soil on the sides of the bed, and six 
inches in the centre, which, after rain, will 
settle down to three inches on the side, and 
five in the centre. The best way to earth, 
without disturbing the bulbs, is to cover each 
bulb first with a cone of earth, which pre- 
vents them falling on one side while the re- 
mainder is thrown on ; and to adjust the 
height, it is usual to drive small stakes into 
the bed, at different places, the exact height 
the soil is to be left, and these enable you to 
adjust it properly the whole length, otherwise 
it is easy to be deceived as to the height you 
get the soil above the bulbs in different parts. 
In planting the off-sets, which really should 
be in the ground this month, as soon as they 
can be attended to, you have only to draw the 
lines along the bed, and taking one sort at a 
time, the label should be placed in the ground 
on the mark first, then the smallest of the off- 
sets moderately close together ; as they en- 
large, give more room ; but three inches will 
be wide enough for the largest. The inten- 
tion in planting the smallest next the label is 
that the failures are most apt to take place 
among the smallest, and there is the less 
chance of a mistake, by keeping the irregular 
portions nearest to the mark. When you 
have finished one sort, with the largest bulbs 
at the end, take a second, and place the stake 
or label in first, as in the last case, and, fol- 
lowing up the same directions all through the 
bed, there may at length be a ridge of earth 
carefully laid all along each row by hand, 
when the remainder of the covering can be 
done as directed for the last. The best soil 
that a Tulip ever grows in, or can grow in, is 
rotted turfs from a loamy meadow. Cut them 
four or six inches thick, and lay them in a 
heap, until they have formed into mould, 
when they should be chopped down, and 
the wireworms, and other destructive insects, 
searched for, and removed ; for, in the first 
instance, they are generally abundant, and no 
pains ought to be spared to get rid of them. 
We have known them found partially, year 
after year, in the soil of Tulip beds, which in- 
duces us to direct that, when it is turned out 
of a bed in ridges of each side, it should be 
searched several times. The object in putting 
cowdung at the bottom of a bed, is to stop 
the roots going into any hungry stuff that 
may be below two feet; for when they reach the 
dung they no longer grow downwards ; they 
have been known to completely mat the cow- 
dung with their fibres, by spreading, and 
this is generally towards the end of their 
bloom, and when the root is making its best 
growth. The practice of planting in sand is 
not beneficial to the roots ; but it is useful in 
taking up the bulbs, if neglected too long, 
and the stalks have decayed ; for, as you lose 
your principal guide, the stems and leaves, 
the sand shows you where the bulbs ought to 
be, and tells you at once whether they have 
decayed ; because if you get at the sand, you 
are sure the tulip, if alive, ought to be there. 
The way to use the sand, is to drop some on 
every spot where the bulb is to stand, and 
after you have placed the bulb on it, put a 
cone of sand over it. Breeder Tulips should 
be planted in the open ground, and it is 
always better to keep the off-sets about them ; 
for if a flower breaks well, it is very desirable 
to have a few of the kind, known to be the 
same ; for breeders from the same seed often 
come so nearly alike in the foliage, as to be 
taken, when out of bloom, for the same 
variety. Early Tulips may be potted, or 
planted in the borders, as soon as you please; 
but let them be half-a-dozen in a patch, for 
effect, and not be planted about singly, as is 
the common practice. 
Auriculas, already in their winter quar- 
ters, require but little care, beyond protecting 
