May SS, lasX ] 
421 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
of them join and help each other to plough the ground. A day is fixe<l 
on which they shall go to each farm, and a high time they have, I can 
tell you. The work goes on cheerily with the ploughmen, for they 
are always in a merry mood on the big plough day. Beer, cide^ whisky, 
and brandy flow like water, and the farmers delight in having a jolli¬ 
fication when the day’s work is done. Two ploughs are used. The 
first is drawn with from two to four horses ; this turns in the manure, 
weeds, and loose earth into the trench or furrow, which is 14 inches 
wide and 18 inches deep. Then comes the big plough, drawn by six 
or eight and sometimes twelve horses ; this ploughs up the subsoil to 
the depth of 12 or 14 inches. Ic will thus be seen that the ground is 
worked to the depth of 18 inches. Some of the farmers work the 
ground to a greater depth than this when it has been under Potatoes 
for many years. Owing to the great size of the plough the ground is 
turned up somewhat roughly, so men are placed along the furrows to 
work the ground even as the ploughing proceeds, and when a field 
is finished it presents a clean and even surface. The sides and ends of 
each field are dug with the spade, so that not an inch of ground is 
wasted ; in fact, I can say, without any misgiving, that there are few 
kitchen gardens in England so closely cropped as the Jersey farmers 
crop their ground. From the time the ground is ploughed to the lifting 
of the crop many people do not allow a horse to go on the ground, so 
that the ground is kept light. However, some growers use the horse 
on a fine dry day to lightly harrow the ground a few days before 
planting, but more often one may see the harrow drawn about the 
fields by lightfooted French damseis, who come over for the Potato 
season. There being very little in the way of sport or recreation for 
the farmers or their men, they endeavour to make the big plough day 
a day of pleasure as well as of work, and it is always being wound up 
with a feast, and often with a dance.— Herbert Parker, Jersey. 
(To be continued.) 
THE FLORISTS’ TULIP. 
[ Read at a meeting of the Cambridge Horticultural and Florists' Society, by Hr. .ttfred 
Chater.l 
The cultivation of this beautiful flower is my pleasant theme. At 
our meeting last month, Mr. Warren, speaking of the Auricula, said, if 
you wish to grow it properly you must go at it with your whole heart 
and soul, in fact you must love it. 1 do love the Tulip. It was my first 
love. I remember it is more than fifty years since I was taken into the 
greenhouse and shown a pot of forced early Van Thol Tulips. The sight 
of those lovely flowers, with their bright crimson petals tinged with gold, 
touched a tender chord in my breast and caused it to vibrate, and as the 
years have rolled on, and the seasons come round for the flowering of 
the Tulip, those vibrations have gone on increasing in force and energy, 
and I say the love for this flower is stronger now than ever it was before. 
I am about to tell you how I grow these choice specimens we have 
before us this evening. It has been a labour of love for many years. 
When seven years old I had my Tulip bed, and so it has gone on to the 
present time. The pleasure of the planting, the watching for the first 
shoot, the anxious waiting for the lovely blooms, and then the hanpy 
time when yon see them as they are this evening in all their beauty. 
And now for the subject. I shall not speak of the Tulip as a botanist, 
as that would take an evening of itself, but as a florists’ flower, and the 
treatment of a florist. 
Tulip Gesneriana is a native of Cappadocia in Persia ; from there it 
was taken to the islands in the Levant, the climate and soil being so 
suitable for its growth, it seeded freely ; the seed spreading about 
germinated, and so the plant became naturalised there. It was intro¬ 
duced into Europe in the year 1554 by Busberuius, who sent seeds and 
bulbs from Constantinople to Vienna. About five years after, in 1559, 
Conrad Gesner, the botanist, first saw the Tulip in a garden at Augsburg. 
He published observations upon it, and had it illustrated in his botanical 
works, and from that it received the name of Tulipa Gesneriana. It is 
call'.d the King of Florists’ Flowers, having been a prime object of 
attention with cultivators for more than three centuries. .lames Garret 
w'as the first to cultivate the flower in England in 1557, and it was 
during the seventeenth century when the Tulipomani.i was at its 
height. Some bulbs fetched over £500 each ; one named Viceroy was 
sold for £400, another Semper Augustus for £840, and as much as 
£2500 and £5.500. Many flowers raised in England have made large 
sums. Polyphemus was sold for £.50, Fanny Kemble £100, Everard 
was sold in 1838 for £140, and coming nearer home Richard Headly 
of Stapleford sold his seedling Sarah Headly for £00. There are some 
very amusing anecdotes told about the Tulip, which you will find in 
Mackay’s extraordinary “ Popular Delusions.” Dumas, the great French 
novelist, wrote the “ History of the Black Tulip,” which is translated 
into English, and well worth reading. 
The Properties of a Fine Tulip.— The habit should be strong 
and growth robust. The flower should be large and composed of si.x 
petals and six stamens, forming almost a perfect cup—that is, two- 
thirds of a hollow ball, all the petals with perfectly entire and smooth 
edges, the top of each broad and well rounded. The ground colour of 
the flower at the bottom of the cup and the stamens must be a clear 
white or yellow, and the various rich coloured stripes, which are the 
principal ornament of a fine Tulip, should be regular, bold, and distinct. 
The feather, whether broad or narrow, must be clear and distinct, form¬ 
ing fine unbroken lines round each petal. The flame should have 
besides the feather a rich beam up the rib of each of the petals, branch¬ 
ing off on either side, and the points meeting the feather. They are 
divided into three classes, feathered and flamed to each. 
A rose is feathered or flamed with rose, scarlet, crimson, or cherry on 
a white ground. 
A byblccmen has a white ground marked or striped with violet or 
purple only of various shades. 
A bizarre has a yellow ground with purple, black or scarlet of 
different shades. 
Situation and Soil.— The situation for the bed should be in an 
open airy part of the garden, well sheltered from the north-east winds. 
The Tulip will grow in any ordinary garden soil, but prefers a rich 
sandy loam. To prepare soil for m.aking a bed get some good rich loam 
or grass sods that have been taken from a good old pasture, and have 
them laid up in a heap for eighteen months or two years; add some good 
leaf mould and well decayed stable manure well mi.xed : turn the heap 
over two or three times, and let it lay for a few weeks ; then pass the 
compost through a co.arse sieve. I prefer a bed a yard wide, with room 
to plant five bulbs in the row. Dig it out 2 feet deep, see that it is 
well drained, fill in one foot with good decayed manure, and the coarse 
siftings well mixed together ; then fill up with the prepared soil. If an 
old bed, after you have taken up the bulbs in June give it two or three 
good soakings with liquid manure from a cowshed. About the end of 
August or beginning of September dig out the top a foot deep, and lay 
it lightly on the sides, so that the air can pass into it. Put some good 
decayed manure on the bottom of the bed and dig it a spit deep, well 
mixing the dung with the earth, laying ic quite loose. About the 
middle of October fork the bottom of the bed over again ; then fill it 
with the earth from the sides, mixing some leaf mould with it, leaving 
it as loose as possible rather higher in the centre, so that it will only 
require raking smooth at the time of planting. 
Planting. —The best time for planting is the first half of November,, 
or as near the 9th as possible, as this is the great day for planting. 
Mark out the rows fi inches apart across the bed and 8 or 9 inches from 
row to row, then dib holes about 5 inches deep, not more, place sand in- 
each hole, then the bulb, which also cover with sand. This is to keep 
the bulbs well drained and free from worms. Rake the bed, leaving it 
highest in the centre, so that the rain can run off. It will require 
nothing else to be done until February, when the growth will appear 
through the soil. At this time the plants require to be carefully 
examined to see if there is any diseased foliage. If j'ou find any cut it 
off with a sharp knife ; choose a dry day for this operation, and the 
wound will heal at once ; loosen the soil with a Dutch hoe, place some 
hoops on the bel, and cover with fine netting to break the frost. When 
the flower buds show put some tiffany over the netting to protect the 
flowers from hailstorms, which are so frequent in the month of ApriL 
As soon as the colour is visible cover the bed with an awning of canvas 
or cotton, as exposure to either sun or rain is apt to mike the colours 
run. Tulips do not require to be artificially watered. When in bloom 
correct your book, and see that all the flowers are properly named. 
Taking up and Storing the Bulbs.— When the petals com¬ 
mence falling remove the awning. The see 1 vessels should be 
immediately broken off close to the stem, because if left it will con¬ 
siderably weaken the bulb for the next year. About the end of June 
or beginning of July the bulbs will be ready to take up. Be careful 
not to break off the stems, but cut them about 3 inches from the bulb, 
and leave the remainder with the rootlets on the bulbs, and place them 
on some boarding in a dry, airy place for a few days. When thoroughly 
dry the old stem with the fibres will come off freely. Place each bulb 
in its proper compartment in the drawers, each row correctly numbered, 
and there they may remain until the season for planting comes round 
again. 
Raising New Varieties. —There are many opinions about see<l 
and seeding. The old plan is to work upon breeders or unbroken 
