November 15, 1894. 
JOURNAL\ OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
443 
for the cooler and more humid portions of the kingdom. The 
very beautiful varieties exhibited by northern and Scottish growers, 
and which come to the exhibition at the Drill Hall in the end of 
June, must have made many wish to cultivate them. Many years’ 
experience have convinced me that in our southern counties by far 
the safest plan is to grow them in pots. 
Tulips. 
I have never been an orthodox cultivator of this bulb. By this 
I mean T have never grown a collection, or had a bed such as is 
familiar to all true growers of the flower, and I think at my time 
of life I must be content with the slap-dash way in which I do 
cultivate them. The very interesting articles by your corre¬ 
spondent, Mr. Bentley, which are now appearing in the columns 
of the Journal, are sufficient to make me shrink into my shell, 
while I cannot but admire the enthusiasm with which he writes 
about them. However, whether they be grown in the orthodox 
style or in the way in which I grow them, the 20th November has 
generally been considered the best time for planting. I have not 
as yet been able to plant the Early Tulips as they are called, but 
hope to do so next week, and then plant my bed with the late 
flowering varieties. 
Roses. 
Now is the time to re-arrange the beds to get in such new 
varieties as may be desired, and to cover up for the winter. My 
plan is to earth up the soil about the neck of the plants, almost as 
you would earth up Potatoes, and then cover the bed over with 
some good decayed litter. This will help to protect the neck of 
the plants from the action of frost, while the winter rains will 
wash down the fertilising elements in it, and thus encourage the 
growth of the plants. All long shoots may be cut back about 
one-third of their length, and so preserve the plants from being 
loosened by the wind.—D., Deal. 
COTYLEDON EASCICULARIS. 
The spray represented in fig. 68 was cut from a plant growing in 
the Peach house of F. Muir, Esq., The Lodge, Effingham. It is by no 
means a common, though an old plant, and is decidedly attractive by 
the chaste form of the flowers, which are yellow, green, and red, and 
are borne on branched stalks from 10 to 20 inches high. The plant is 
not, however, so much valued at Effingham for the beauty of its flowers 
as for the healing properties of its fleshy leaves. These are regarded in 
the neighbourhood as a sovereign remedy for inflammation of the eyes 
especially, and Mr. J. Hamlin, the gardener at Effingham, tells of several 
“ cures,” and of the many demands he has for leaves to be sliced and 
applied in muslin as poultices. For this reason mainly the plant is an 
old, if mutilated favourite, and occupies a dry position near the hot- 
water pipes in the structure named. Cotyledon fascicularis is a native 
of South Africa, and was introduced more than a century ago. 
THE FLORISTS’ TULIP. 
[By James W. Bentley, Hon. Secretary to the Royal National Xulip Society.] 
(^Continued from page 401.) 
The Properties Further Considered. 
Having now, I hope, given a fairly clear account of what 
constitutes excellence in the Tulip, and also sufficient explanation 
of the properties of the flower to give the reader a fair grasp of the 
subject, I pass on to some of the minor mysteries of the fancy. 
Of breeders, as flowers, there is not much more to be said. 
They should conform to the standard in shape and purity, be 
uniformly coloured according to the class to which they belong, 
and show no speck, or spots of any other colour whatever. A 
higher degree of excellence in size and shape is generally to bo 
noticed at exhibitions among the breeders than among the rectified 
flowers. This is only natural, as breeders are constantly being 
improved by the efforts of seedling raisers, and it is of course 
among the breeders that improved seedling types first make their 
appearance. The Rev. F. D. Horner (Kirkby Lonsdale), and 
Mr. James Thurstan (Cannock), have many excellent seedling 
breeders, from which some fine novelties will, no doubt, be broken. 
The late Mr. Lloyd of Petersfield has left behind him a large 
number of seedling breeders of great promise, which being now in 
careful hands will no doubt produce some fine flowers to keep the 
memory of that excellent florist green for many years to come. 
Of rectified flowers there.is still much to say. It has been 
mentioned before that when breeders break or rectify in such a 
way as to produce either feathered or flamed Tulips, those breaks, 
as they are called, are much esteemed ; but it must not be thought 
that a breeder is sure to break in either of the two desired ways. 
It may only, as it were, partially break by forming a few dark 
streaks among the lighter breeder colour, which still continues to 
suffuse the petals ; or it may break in such a way as to show large 
irregular patches of the breeder colour among the darker markings. 
Such breaks are valueless from the florist’s point of view, and 
should be discarded from the Tulip bed, as they are most likely to 
remain bad, no matter for how many years they may be grown. 
If allowed to grow, a bulb that has broken badly becomes the 
originator of what is known as a bad strain, as all the offsets 
partake of the character of the parent, and when they come to 
blooming size show the same faults. On the other band, when a 
bulb breaks finely, either feathered or flamed, the offsets are likely 
FIG. 68.—COTYLEDON FASCICULARIS. 
when they come to blooming size to be good also in the same style, 
and thus what is known as a good strain is produced. 
It will be seen from the foregoing that when making additions 
to a Tulip collection it is necessary to have none but good strains, 
and that names alone are no guide whatever, for there may be 
worthless strains and good strains of any variety. Formerly, 
when Tulips commanded high prices, much harm was done to the 
fancy by these bad strains being sold for good ones ; but now 
Tulips are so cheap that the best strains of most of our standard 
varieties can readily be procured. 
Another property of the rectified Tulip is its inconstancy so far 
as its markings are concerned ; for instance, a bulb may have pro¬ 
duced a grand feathered flower one year, and next year may 
disappoint its owner by coming almost flamed. Worse still, it may, 
for some inscrutable reason, bloom all suffused with colour, like a 
“ run ” Carnation does, and become practically valueless ; for when 
a rectified Tulip either feathered or flamed gets full of colour, as 
