December 6, 1894. 
JOURNAL OF horticulture AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
513 
bright. Thia will cause them to “ plump up ” as it is termed, and 
eventually to emit roots and new growth. The temperature 
frequently advised in these pages for established Orchids of the 
various species will suit newly imported plants, the usual 
atmospheric moisture also sufficing. Cool house Orchids are, 
however, benefited by a temperature about 10° higher than that in 
which established plants thrive, at least until the first pseudo¬ 
bulbs have been matured. There is a certain amount of risk with 
newly imported Orchids, and this is greater at this season than in 
the spring ; but if good plants are procured in the first instance 
and carefully treated, the percentage of loss will be very slight. A 
note on this subject appeared in the Journal of Horticulture of 
March 29th of this year. 
With regard to your Cattleyas spotting, it may be due to 
various causes, and without seeing the plants or knowing the 
treatment they have received it is impossible to say what has 
caused the attack. Too much atmospheric moisture combined 
with a low temperature predisposes the plants to the attacks of 
fungoid and other diseases. This may meet your case, or the spots 
may be caused by sun burns or insects. We cannot advise you 
further without seeing a specimen of the foliage ] 
THE FLORISTS’ TULIP. 
[By James W. Bextley, Hon. Secretary to the Boyal National Talip Society.] 
Chapter IV. 
(^Continued from ])age 489.) 
As it is difficult to always get the right classes and the 
right heights to fit in, I do not recommend a slavish adherence 
to this plan, although it is well to keep the general idea 
of diversifying the colours, and having the highest growers 
in the middle, and the low growers on the outsides of the 
bed in view. Two blooming bulbs may be put together in the 
same hole if preferred. Some growers will only have one, but 
there is no harm in having two, and the display when in bloom is 
more brilliant. 
Let us suppose that we are arranging on this plan a collection 
in the drawers of the cabinet. A tall growing rose is wanted for 
the middle hole in the first row ; tall growing roses are scarce, 
however, and it will be seen at once that we shall soon be in 
difficulties for middle-row roses. We shall have to make use of 
the large bulbs of Aglaia, although Aglaia is scarcely a middle-row 
flower, but large bulbs send up longer flower stems than smaller 
ones, so it must serve. Having placed Aglaia in the middle, we 
want two bizarres one on each side of her. Fortunately we have no 
lack of bizarres of all heights, let us put in Sir Joseph Paxton ; 
next we must find two rather low growing bybloemens, so we put in 
Duchess of Sutherland by the side of Sir Joseph, and finish 
up the row with Alice, a dwarf growing rose, very suitable for the 
outsides of the bed. 
We must now enter what we have done in the Tulip book, 
which may be an ordinary plain-ruled memorandum book, con¬ 
taining sufficient pages for the purpose, or a more elaborately got- 
up volume with a good strong binding. I find a book with pages 
about inches by bj inches, and containing twenty-six lines to a 
page, suits me very well. I can enter three rows on each page, 
and there is a blank line between each row, which gives distinct¬ 
ness. It is well bound, with flexible backs, and can be carried in 
the pocket. The names are written on the left-hand pages only, 
and the right-hand page is left blank for notes to be made at 
blooming time. We should then enter our first row thus 
Row 1. 
1. Alice. 
2. Duchees of Sutherland. 
3. Sir Joseph Paxton. 
4. Aglaia. 
5. Sir Joseph Paxton. 
6. Duchess of Sutherland. 
7. A'ice. 
The other rows must be arranged in a similar fashion, and 
entered as they are arranged, in the Tulip book. It will readily be 
seen that by using this system it is perfectly easy to identify any 
variety either when lying as a bulb in its compartment of the 
cabinet or growing on the bed. 
The cabinet must not be air-tight, there should be free venti¬ 
lation on two sides of it at least ; this can be thoroughly assured 
by having the back and sides made of perforated sheet zinc. The 
zinc will keep out mice, which often destroy Tulip bulbs when they 
can get to them. 
Many growers do not have cabinets but simply boxes made 
with compartments exactly as the drawers are. It ought to be 
mentioned that a suitable size for these compartments is 3 inches 
by 3 inches by 3 inches, a cube of 3 inches will easily accommo¬ 
date two blooming bulbs. The boxes when the bulbs are dry are 
piled on the top of each other in a suitable place, with flat laths or 
something of the kind intervening to allow a current of air to pass 
over the bulbs in each box. The boxes are not so convenient as 
the cabinet from which any drawer can be removed without 
disturbing the others. The drawers or boxes containing the bulbs 
are taken out to the beds at planting time, and again when the 
bulbs are lifted. 
When September arrives it is quite time to prepare the bed", 
and before doing this important work it is well to remember what 
are the chief points to be aimed at in the culture of the Tulip. 
They may be summarised thus :— 
1, To grow the plants in such a manner as to keep up the size 
and health of the bulbs, and ensure a sufficient amount of increase 
without injuring the refinement of marking necessary for a fine 
Tulip. 
2, To protect the plants in such a way that the flowers shall be 
produced free from blemishes caused by weather, and yet not to 
injure the health of the plants and bulbs. 
To attain to a reasonable degree of perfection in these two 
objects is not the eisiest thing in the world, and more than 
ordinary care and attention are required. If the culture be too 
liberal the bulbs may get large and bloated, and will produce 
characterless, coarsely marked flowers; if too poor the bulbs 
become too small to produce fair-sized blooms, and the markings 
become so refined as to be scarcely visible at all. Feathered 
flowers become so short of colour on the edges of the petals as to 
resemble seifs, and flamed flowers lose the bold beam and bloom in 
a condition that may be described as neither feathered nor flamed. 
If the plants have not a certain amount of protection they and 
the flowers get spoiled by frost, hail, wind, rain, and sun. If 
protected too much the plants are weak and sickly, and the colours 
of the flowers become pale and dull. It is, therefore, evident that 
a happy medium is what is needed. The culture must be liberal 
enough to produce good bulbs without spoiling the refinement of 
the marking of the flowers, and protection sufficient to ensure 
uninjured blooms must be given without impairing the health of 
the plants. How this happy medium may be arrived at in the best 
practicable manner I will do my best to describe. 
The most important point to be assured on when making a 
Tulip bed is the thorough efficiency of the drainage. Tulips will 
stand more ill-treatment than most things without actually dying. 
You may starve them, overfeed them, neglect them—even so much 
as to leave them unplanted for a year, or otherwise despitefully 
use them, and they will contrive to keep living. They will make 
less bulbs, or perhaps split up into a number of pieces, each with 
its germ of life, as if with the idea of increasing the chances of 
survival by dividing them among numerous individuals. It is 
evident, therefore, that they are not easy to destroy, but they will 
not stand being treated as aquatics or bog plants. The situation 
