November 22,1894. 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
465 
is to carefully grow on all offsets from all bulbs which produce 
well feathered flowers ; these when of blooming size are known as 
“maiden bulbs,” and are most likely to produce good feathers. It 
is also of great advantage to grow a good stock of those breeders 
which are known to break feathered. 
Flamed flowers are numerous, and there is generally [little 
difficulty in obtaining sufficient passable flowers in this class. At 
the same time grandly flamed flowers are not easily found, for in 
addition to having a perfect feather, they must possess the bold 
branching beam and other qualities described in the previous 
chapter ; having to combine more excellencies to produce the 
desired result, they are consequently liable to more defects than 
are feathered flowers. The most common defects of flamed flowers 
are skips in the feathering—a deficiency or redundancy of mark¬ 
ing—the beam, instead of almost imperceptibly mingling with the 
feathering, going through to the edge of the petal in a solid mass 
of colour ; the beam being broken and rendered indistinct by inter¬ 
vening and intrusive ground colour, and unequal distribution of 
marking, such as having too much on some parts of the petal and 
too little on others. This unequal distribution of marking often 
causes a defect which is known as being fast in the base. By this 
expression is meant that the beam is so broad and solid at 
the base that it entirely cuts off the ground colour instead of 
allowing it to unite with the base on each side of the beam. 
Another fault some of our flamed flowers, and particularly the 
older varieties, have is a narrow or deficient base. In many 
varieties now obsolete the beam almost touched the ovary, 
and the stainless circle of white or yellow that adds such brightness 
and charm to our modern flowers was practically entirely absent. 
We still grow flamed flowers, such as Duke of Devonshire and 
Masterpiece, which are sadly deficient in this respect. Considering 
everything, and much as I admire a fine feathered flower, I think 
a grand flame must be held as the highest type of the Tulip. 
There is one other serious defect in marking which remains to 
be noticed. Some varieties show a kind of indistinctness in the 
feathering, caused by the colour on the edges of the petals being 
of two shades instead of one solid colour. When this occurs the 
feathering has a confused appearance, and such a feather is techni¬ 
cally known as grizzled. 
Faults of purity are still occasionally seen, and flowers with 
stamens tinged, and bases of at best doubtful purity have not yet 
been quite discarded. Impure bizarres have either a greenish or a 
greasy looking base, instead of a clear yellow one, and impure 
bybloemens and roses have either yellowish bases, or bases that 
appear as if the bottom of the flower had absorbed some dirty oil. 
Most impure flowers improve with age—that is, they get better 
every day when in bloom, and some may with great care and atten¬ 
tion be fairly pure when the flower is about ready to shed its petals. 
As an instance of flowers of this character I may mention Mrs. 
Pickerill, a once famous feathered bybloemen. This variety is so 
yellow when it first opens that it might be taken for a bizarre, 
and I believe has been exhibited when very young as a bizarre. 
However, the yellow in the ground fades away day by day, and 
when the flower is old it is almost completely gone ; in some 
favoured localities it does sometimes completely go, and if the 
happy grower can get it to the exhibition before the petals fall he 
does well. Such flowers are unworthy the florist’s attention, and 
ought to be discarded. It ought, however, to be stated that some 
roses and bybloemens, which are yellow at the base on opening, 
become pure white in a day or two, such varieties are said to 
bleach easily. Aglaia and Modesty are varieties of this kind. The 
base of both is yellow when the flower first opens, but as the 
yellow disappears easily and completely it is no detriment to the 
flower. At the same time varieties that open perfectly pure and 
need no bleaching are preferable, and there are now so many of 
these that the days of the “ yellow opener ” are getting over. 
Sins against purity are often apparent on the stamens of many 
varieties. Instead of being white they are tinged with blue, black 
or yellow in the case of white grounds, and with green or dirty 
olive in bizarres. Varieties that come constantly with impure 
stamens are worthless and should be discarded. There are, 
however, many varieties that generally come with pure stamens 
that are occasionally tinged with impurity. Many old growers 
used to consider ttat this was due to the pollen liquifying on the 
anthers and running down on to the stamens. I could never see 
any reasons to support this view, and certainly never saw any signs 
of the pollen melting or liquifying. A more probable explanation 
is that the circumstances and conditions at the blooming time are 
more favourable than usual to the development of colour, and 
consequently the anthers develop a little tinge of it. It must be 
remembered that the very old varieties had badly stained anthers, 
so there is nothing to wonder at, in an occasional relapse, under 
severe provocation, on the part of their descendants. 
Defects of form have still to be put up with. The cup in many 
varieties is too long; in others the petals are too narrow', or they 
curl outwards or inwaids near the top, or they are pointed instead 
of being broadly rounded. Many varieties are also narrow and 
constricted at the base of the flowers ; these flowers are often 
rather clumsily called “ tundishy ” from their resemblance to a 
kind of funnel, wide at the top and very narrow at its lower end, 
called a tundish, and used in brewing. Defects of form are more 
seen in feathered than in flamed flowers (although common 
enough in both classes), as owing to the scarcity of the former 
faults of shape have to be tolerated, which would render a flamed 
flower almost worthless. Large flowers, as showing good cultiva¬ 
tion, are always desirable, provided they excel in other respects ; but 
a medium or small-sized bloom, correctly marked and proportioned, 
is always preferred to a larger one deficient in marking or form. 
1 am reminded by an inquiry from a correspondent that another 
fault to which both rectified and breeder flowers are liable has not 
been mentioned. It has been stated before that the Tulip should 
have six petals, but it sometimes comes with as few as four and 
as many as twelve. A flower with more or less than six petals is 
considered valueless, as its shape is spoiled, but it must not be 
supposed that the bulb which has produced it is valueless also ; it 
must be retained and esteemed just as much as if it had produced 
a perfect flower of six petals, provided, of course, the bloom was 
correctly marked. If, however, there are many flowers on a bed 
with too many petals it may be a sign that the culture is too 
generous, and a poorer compost is needed. The total absence of this 
fault cannot be entirely assured, but experience will soon reduce 
it to a minimum. In Tulip growing, as in everything else in this 
world, the absolute best is not attainable, and the best possible is 
what we must strive for and be content with. 
Having now set down at some length the faults of my favourite 
flower, and feeling that they must appear somewhat formidable to 
the reader, I cannot help thinking what a pity it is and has been 
that the Dutch growers have not adopted our standards of perfec¬ 
tion. They have all the industry and perseverance which, if 
rightly directed, would result in many fine and greatly improved 
new varieties. Unfortunately they seem to have no standards at 
all to work up to, judging by the quality of the varieties they 
praise most in their catalogues. On several occasions I have pro¬ 
cured their so-called fine novelties from Holland, and invariably 
found them destitute of the qualities we prize here, and altogether 
inferior to the varieties our forefathers obtained from them over 
a hundred years ago. 
(To be continued.) 
EOYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
Novembee 13th. 
Scientific Committee. —Present: Mr. Michael (in the chair) ; 
Mr. McLachlan, Dr. Bonavia, Professor Church, Professor Miiller, ancl 
the Rev. G. Henslow, Hon. Sec. 
Germinating Black Fepim\ — Mr. Henslow exhibited specimens 
received from Mr. T. Christy. Pepper seeds, being usually collected 
before they are fully ripened, are often deficient as to their embryos; 
but the examples shown had germinated well, the large circular 
cotyledons carrying up the seed into the air. Their tips formed a club- 
shaped extremity and were retained within the embryo sac, usually called 
the amniotic sac. This apparently acts as a “ digestive pocket ” by 
secreting a ferment which dissolves the endosperm occupying the greater 
part of the seed. This is then conveyed into the plant by the included 
tips of the cotyledons, 
Blienological Observations —Secretary having received the 
Reports for 1891, 1892, and 1893, from the Royal Meteorological 
Society, gave some account of an examination of them. The con¬ 
clusion arrived at was that the first flowering of plants being noticed by 
one set of observers, and the meteorological data, temperature, rainfall 
and sunshine (hygrometric data wanting), being supplied by other 
observers elsewhere, any accurate adjustments between the two, in 
order to trace out local causes and effects, was next to impossible. 
Again, although “ the observers are required under the new regulations 
[of 1891] to note each year the flowering of the same individual trees 
and shrubs, and in the case of herbaceous plants those situated in the 
same spots” (Beport, SjC., 1891), yet the observers have not recorded 
the surrounding conditions, respectively, to show how far they all agree 
in any one of the “ areas.” The problem is thus further complicated, 
for a plant growing in a warm place may be greatly hastened in flowering 
as compared with one in a shady and cool place. Again, plant idiosyn- 
cracies vary greatly: thus, of two Horse Chestnuts, one frequently 
flowers as a regular feature before others growing side by side with it. 
Hence, without such and other additional data for strict comparisons, 
the really scientific value of the phonological observations does not seem 
to be very pronounced. For horticultural purposes their value is practi¬ 
cally none. As illustrations of the above remarks there are four 
stations at Salisbury. In 1891 the Coltsfoot flowered at these places 
from February 15th to March 7tb, a range of three weeks ; at two 
places at Clifton the Blackthorn flowered, on April 26th and May 5th 
respectively ; but there is no clue whereby one can trace the causes of 
these and other similar differences. 
