TULIP. 
141 
October, a week or two before planting, that the 
ground may be properly settled. The beds intended 
for them should be dug a foot or more in depth, ac¬ 
cording to the soil, and some old manure placed at 
the bottom of each trench, but not mixed with the 
soil; for if the bulbs touch the manure it will cause 
them to decay. These beds should be a few inches 
above the level of the walks. 
Early in November, proceed to plant the bulbs, by 
marking out the rows across the bed, at eight inches 
apart, and remove the soil from them about four inch¬ 
es deep ; then mark the spots for each bulb four or six 
inches apart; place a little sand for the bulbs to rest 
upon, and set them in, pressing them gently to fix 
them in a proper position, after which, cover them up, 
and proceed in like manner with each row. When 
the whole is planted, level the surface so that the 
bulbs may be about four inches deep. If planted in 
a southern aspect, the rows should run north and 
south; if in an eastern aspect, east and west. The 
blossom bud of the tulip should always face the south. 
The tulip root is in a degree, conical, flattened a lit¬ 
tle at the base on one side ; here the bud lies, from 
which the flower stalk proceeds ; the leaves issue from 
the top of the cone, the flower stalk passing through 
them. The Dutch are so careful not to injure the bud, 
that they always leave one or two inches of the flow¬ 
er stalk, adhering to their tulips, when in a dried 
state. It is chiefly for want of this care, that tulips 
are seldom found tw^o years successively in an equal 
degree of perfection. 
