CHAP. VIII.] 
TULIPS. 
281 
and the Parrot tulip* which appears to be a 
variety of the last* and the petals of which 
are yellow* irregularly striped or spotted 
with green* scarlet* and blue* and fringed at 
the margin. 
The culture of the tulip* as a florist's 
flower* requires unremitting attention and 
care; but for common garden purposes* the 
tulip will be found hardier* and less liable to 
injury from insects* &c.* than most other 
flowers. Where tulips are grown in a regular 
bed* the ground should be dug out to the 
depth of twenty inches* or two feet. A 
stratum of fresh earth is laid at the bottom 
of the pit thus formed* on that a stratum of 
rotten cow-dung* and on this a stratum of 
loam mixed with sand. The bed should be 
three or four feet wide* and its surface 
should be slightly raised in the middle. A 
fresh bed should be made every year* or 
rather the same bed should be filled with 
fresh soil every season; as the exudations 
from the tulips will soon poison the ground 
for plants of the same kind* though it will be 
very suitable for the growth of other bulbs* 
and tubers. The proper distance at which 
