1871.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
381 
Hardy Bulbs, especially Tulips. 
The bulb catalogues of the dealers have made 
their appearance, and we would remind the 
reader who intends to plant bulbs that the 
sooner he attends to the matter the better. 
There are no more desirable things for the gar¬ 
den in spring—be it of the largest or the smallest 
—than those flowers classed under the head of 
bulbs. The Hyacinths, Tulips, Narcissuses, 
Crocuses, and the like, give us earliness, beauty, 
brilliancy, and fragrance. Our people would 
plant more largely of bulbs were it not for 
two things. The work has to be done too 
far in advance of flowering time to suit our 
impatient amateurs, and, secondly, the direc¬ 
tions for cultivation are unnecessarily ponderous 
and prolix. The bulb-fancier who wishes to 
obtain the best results and grow every flower 
to the regulation standard, must mix his soils, 
and go to a great deal of trouble. We like to 
see this painstaking upon the part of those who 
can afford it. But we would see a clump of 
bulbs in every back or front yard, or so near 
the farm-house that the good wife can look up 
from her work and catch a glimpse of bright¬ 
ness from the kitchen wiudow. Bulbs of un¬ 
named varieties, which will answer for common 
culture, may be had at very low rates, and the 
mail will bring them to every home. Unnamed 
Hyacinths may be had at $1.25 to $1.50 the 
dozen, early single and double Tulips at 50c., 
Crocuses and Snow-drops at 20c., Narcissuses 
and Jonquils at 50c. A few dollars rightly in¬ 
vested now in bulbs will bring abundant re¬ 
turns in pleasure next spring. Any good gar¬ 
den soil will answer, but it must not be wet. 
If heavy, add sand ; if not rich enough, spade in 
well-rotted cow-manure. Plant any time in 
October or early in November. Set the bulbs 
to a depth equal to twice their thickness, and 
three times this distance apart 
— i. e., if the bulbs are two 
inches through, set them four 
inches deep and six inches 
apart. When the ground is 
about to freeze, cover the bed 
with a few inches of leaves or 
littery manure, and leave until 
spring opens. The best results 
require the bulbs to be taken 
up when the leaves die down 
after flowering, but in ordinary 
culture they may be left in 
place for three or four years. 
This simplifies bulb culture 
very much. It is not the way 
to get exhibition flowers, but 
it is the way to make bulbs 
popular with the people at 
large, and this is what we are 
striving to do. The results 
reached in this way will be so 
pleasing as to inspire a desire 
for better things, and choice- 
named varieties and more care¬ 
ful treatment will come after¬ 
wards. For a beginner, Hya¬ 
cinths, Tulips, Crocuses, Nar¬ 
cissuses, Snow - drops, and 
Bulbocodiums will be a good 
assortment. The last named 
is not very well known, but it 
is the earliest of all. It is the 
Bulbocodium vernum that we 
have in mind, and not the Nar¬ 
cissus Bulbocodium, which is; quite another thing. 
For a grand show, nothing is more effective 
than the early double tulips. Individually, the 
flowers are not as pleasing as the single ones, 
but a clump of the double ones is truly brilliant. 
Fig. 1.— parrot tulip.— (Tulipa Turcica .) 
The early tulips are from a different species 
from the late varieties. The early varieties are 
derived from the Tulipa suaveolens of Southern 
Europe, while the late tulips are derived from 
Tulipa Gesneriana of Asia Minor. This last is the 
Tulip of the florists, about which so much has 
been written, and which some two centuries 
ago was the subject of extravagant specu¬ 
lations. The typical form of this tulip is shown 
in the engraving (figure 3). It has broken into 
a most wonderful number of varieties, which 
the florists have divided up into several classes. 
There are over fifteen hundred named varie¬ 
ties in some of the large European collections. 
Some other species of tulip are interesting, 
though they are not very often seen in cultiva¬ 
tion. The Parrot Tulip (fig. 1) is by some re¬ 
garded as a distinct species, Tulipa Turcica , 
while others think it a garden variety produced 
by hybridization. It is a most striking variety, 
its petals being curiously cut or fringed upon 
the edges, and generally furnished with a spur. 
Sometimes it is self-colored; but the showiest 
forms are marked in the most brilliant manner 
with red and green on a clear yellow ground. 
Another species which we have satisfactorily 
cultivated is the Horned Tulip, Tulipa cornuta 
(fig. 2), whichis odd and unlike other tulips, 
but still not without a certain quaint beauty. 
- ——— - 
The Egg-Plant. 
BY PETER HENDERSON. 
J. J., of Manorsville, Pa., writes that, for the 
first time, the egg-plant has been grown in his 
section this season, and that it has been a won¬ 
der to the good people of that place, and they 
wish for more light on its culture and uses. 
J. J. says that the earliest and best fruit is pro¬ 
duced on the plants last set out (June 10th), and 
seems to wonder that such should be the case. 
His experience here teaches a forcible lesson on 
the subject that we so often dwell upon, cau¬ 
tioning against the sowing or planting of tender 
plants, such as tomato, egg-plant, cucumber, or 
melon, too early. In the latitude of New York, 
egg-plants should never be sown in hot-beds 
sooner than April 20th, the 
temperature of the hot-bed to 
be not less than 70° at night. 
The plant at no season of its 
growth should be kept for any 
length of time at a lower aver¬ 
age temperature than 70°, and 
for this reason: The experi¬ 
ment of J. J. demonstrated 
that his plants, planted in open 
air on May 19th, were inferior 
to those set out on June 10th. 
Egg-plants, when they first 
germinate, are very sensitive 
to damp and to being chilled, 
and the amateur often fails to 
raise them, even with his hot¬ 
bed; but as they are now 
grown in all large towns, those 
wishing to try them, and not 
having the proper means of 
raising the plants, can procure 
them at trifling expense from 
the market-gardeners or flor¬ 
ists of their nearest town. 
The soil they best fruit in is a 
light, sandy loam, well enrich¬ 
ed by decayed stable manure. 
J. J. further asks at what 
stage the egg fruit is fit for 
use. It may be used from the 
time it is the size of a turkey’s 
egg until it is at its average 
size, say five inches in diame¬ 
ter ; but it is not so good when 
the seeds indicate an appearance of ripening. 
He wants to know how best to cook it; but here 
I must decline answering, and leave him in the 
