June 2, 1892. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTTUIILTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER 
407 
O NWARDS, slowly perhaps, but surely, creeps the tide that 
has turned in favour of English Tulips. The term is not 
a common one, for the flowers referred to are those usually 
classed as Florists’ or Date varieties, but it has something beyond 
insular pride to recommend it. In the 333 years which, according 
to a brochure by Tripet aine, have elapsed since Conrad Gesner 
brought Tulipa Gesneriana from Constantinople, marvellous work 
has been accomplished by hybridisers in various countries with 
the species named as a parent, but it is in England that the 
properties which are most esteemed in the best Tulips of to-day 
—perfect form, smoothness, substance of petal, and clean base— 
were developed. There are florists’ Tulips in abundance which 
possess none of these qualifications ; and the time has come for 
finding some distinctive appellation for the noble class of flowers 
which pay tribute to the English florists’ skill. 
The evolution of the Tulip carries us back far into the past, 
and gives us new views of the progress of the centuries. While 
it has been built up step by step in the calm and quietude of 
many a sunny British garden, the world without has been torn 
by countless convulsions. Some of the varieties bear the impress 
of the fierce times of their birth in the names that have been 
given to them ; for instance, Bataille d’Eyleau, Bonaparte, Lord 
Collingwood, Simplon, and High Admiral, all of which are repre¬ 
sented by coloured plates in “ The Florists’ Guide ” of 1827-1829. 
The raisers of most of the old Tulips have long ago passed into 
the silent land, and their names do not live in song and story. 
The great world is oblivious of them, but an inner circle 
remembers them as workers for the good and the beautiful, and 
honours them as peaceful benefactors. 
Tulip raisers in England, Holland, France, and other countries 
worked simultaneously, and it is natural enough that the products 
of each school should have a common stamp, but sale and inter¬ 
change went on actively, and thus most large collections exhibited 
mixed types. It is so still. Inferior varieties gained a footing, and, 
instead of being rigorously excluded on their character becoming 
known, were treated with indulgence. Thus it is that we find a 
type of bloom totally dissimilar from our own most cherished 
flowers even now, and it is impossible to avoid the belief that this 
inclusion of poor forms had much to do with the gradual decline 
of the Tulip during the past half century. It is difficult, at 
all events, to otherwise account for the strange fact of a flower 
so full of interest, of such easy culture and of such unique 
beauty, losing ground ; rather would it have been expected that 
its adherents would go on increasing year by year. This con¬ 
sideration teaches us that we owe much to those who are not 
only endeavouring to give a fresh impetus to Tulip culture, but 
are also devoting assiduous care to the selection of their collec¬ 
tions. The lessons of the past are of the greatest value in teaching 
us to avoid its errors. 
It would be repeating a very old and threadbare story to dwell 
upon the Tulip mania of former days. Those who have the true 
welfare of the flower at heart cannot recall the epoch without 
pain, for they know that to all such sensations there must be 
reactions, and too often the craze of a generation is followed by 
the neglect of a century. Paradoxical as it might appear without 
reflection, the popularity of the Tulip in the past is one of the 
No. 623.— VOL. XXIV., THIBD SEEIE.S. 
greatest obstacles to a tLoiough levival at the present time, and 
lifting it up to anything approaching its former level is a task 
worthy of the best energies of the “ forlorn hope,” who are now 
struggling to revive it. They are hopeful, however, rather than 
despairing. They are content with any progress, however slow, 
and do not covet a rush into popularity, which would assuredly 
be ephemeral and fleeting. New growers will spring up by ones 
and twos, perhaps, instead of hundreds ; but that will not matter 
so long as they bring the whole-hearted, patient, loving spirit of 
their forefathers to bear on the best material that the latter’s 
hands had fashioned, for the effects of their work will spread and 
bear good fruit. 
The absorbing interest of the English Tulips does not lie solely 
in their beauty of form and rich, quaint markings. Their life- 
history is not the unbroken, uneventful one that other flowers 
enjoy. There comes a time when the self flower is a self no more, 
the rose, scarlet, or violet shining above the silvery ground of the 
Bybloemens and Roses, or the golden base of the Bizarres, breaking 
into marvellous featherings and flamings of colour. The 
phenomenon cannot be considered unmoved. In gazing upon 
the self Bybloemen Talisman and upon his brilliant broken 
prototype Goethe’s immortal legend comes to mind, and it is 
recalled how Faust bartered his soul for such an exchange as this. 
Or turning from the legendary to the natural, we think of the 
contrast between the dull cocoon and the brilliant, fluttering 
butterfly, and ask if it is more wonderful than the transformation 
of these extraordinary flowers. The new shades do not vanish as 
quickly as they come. They are not the vagaries of a day, mere 
ripples on the stream of time, but, once broken, remain to dazzle 
and delight those who see them. The breeder flower is but the 
canvas prepared for the painting, and when in due course the colours 
are mixed and the picture completed, it is one that will not fade 
under the hand of time. 
The period of probation is often a long one, extending over 
many years, and it is not surprising that attempts to hasten it 
have been made by those impatient to see what the rectified 
flowers are like. But the plants have pursued the even tenour 
of their way unmoved, and the streak or flame has been evolved 
in its own good time. Mr. Horner has told in the Journal 
of the simple expedient advised by one grower — to purchase 
bulbs from Holland. That the prescription came from a Dutch¬ 
man hardly needs mentioning. Long before that, however, a 
secret for hastening the breaking was retailed by a British 
florist at (to quote an old work) “ the trifling sum of one 
guinea.” Notwithstanding, however, that this generous offer was 
supported by a strong editorial recommendation. Tulip fanciers 
appear to have proved sceptical, and consequently a subsequent 
offer was made to divulge the secret method “for the trifling 
sum of ten shillings.” Whether this met with the expected 
response we have no evidence to show, but if it did it is to be 
feared that the plan proved to be a failure, as growers of 
the present day have to rely on the time-honoured resource of 
patience. 
We do not propose to dwell at length upon the varieties and 
their respective merits now. Hints may be gathered upon these 
points in the notes on two collections that will follow in an early 
issue, and which are written by appreciative pens. We call attention 
to English Tulips as a class of garden flowers deserving widely 
extended cultivation. Amongst hardy plants it is difficult to find 
any to compare with them for combined beauty and ease of 
culture, while the phenomenon that their change of raiment marks 
is found in them alone. In the stately beauty of these noble 
flowers, in their wonderful substance and shapeliness, in their rich 
colours and brilliant markings, and in the change of life to which 
reference has been made, a store of pleasure and interest is 
provided that familiarity will deepen, and time cannot but 
intensify. 
No. 2279.— VOL, LXXXVI., Ou) Sbbies. 
