514 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
Desem'jer 6, 1894. 
of the bed is also of importance. If it can be sheltered from the 
east and north it is of great advantage ; it should not be so near to 
trees as to receive any drip from them. It should have a walk at 
least 2 feet wide round it, and where two beds are grown side by 
side a 3 foot walk between them is very desirable. 
Having settled where it is to be, the bed should be marked out 
4 feet wide and long enough to contain the collection ; a bed of 
100 rows would have to be 50 feet in length. If there are more 
Tulips than suffice to fill a 50-foot bed it is better to have another 
bed alongside than increase the length above 50 feet. The soil 
should then be removed to the depth of 2 feet, and (the drainage 
being quite satisfactory) the ends and sides of the bed should be 
boarded above the surface of the ground with stout boards 8 to 
12 inches wide. A kind of box is thus made which will support 
the soil of the bed well above the surrounding level. The soil 
can now be filled in. The Tulip loves a stiff, “ buttery ” loam, 
with plenty of fibre therein, and in my opinion sods from a fat old 
pasture that have been stacked a few months and chopped down 
with the spade form the best soil that can be used. With such 
soil I would use nothing else whatever, unless forced to grow in a 
low-lying damp district, when a proportion of rough grit or sand 
might be an advantage. I am no believer in nitrogenous manure. 
When new and raw it is very dangerous, and “ well rotted manure ” 
that one hears so much of, if decayed so well that all its manurial 
qualities have vanished, does no harm and no good. The soil must 
be carefully searched for the wireworm, which delights in per¬ 
forating the bulbs, especially the choicest and scarcest ; perhaps 
the flavour also, as well as the other qualities, are superior to the 
ordinary kinds. The soil should be put into the bed until it is 
level with the top edge of the boards, and then well trodden down 
and allowed to settle until planting time. If the weather is very 
wet the bed should be kept covered from the rain. 
Planting may be done at any time, when the weather is favour¬ 
able, between the beginning of October and the early part of 
December ; it appears to matter little whether early or late. The 
best guide as to what is the best time is the condition of the bulbs ; 
when they begin to show signs of formation of rootlets at the base 
of the bulb the planting should be at once proceeded with. Bulbs 
kept during the summer in a cool place show signs of root develop¬ 
ment before those kept in a warm situation, and require to be 
planted earlier. It used to be customary to completely strip the 
bulbs of all the brown outer skin before planting and put them in 
the ground perfectly naked. I do not like this method, which is a 
very tedious one, and unless gone through with great care is likely 
to be the cause of injury. The bulbs, in my opinion, when taken 
up in June or July, after being thoroughly dried, should remain 
untouched with the old roots and skins left on them until shortly 
before planting time. It will then be found that they come away 
easily and safely, and there is little risk of injury to the bulbs. 
There is no need of completely stripping the bulbs, all that is 
necessary is to be assured that the root-plate is laid bare so that 
the young rootlets can strike directly into the soil. This is easily 
done just before planting, as in the majority of cases the swelling 
of the root-plate causes the outer skin of the bulb to burst near its 
base, and the lower portion is then easily detached. 
There appears to be little or no difference between early and 
late planted bulbs as far as the time of blooming is concerned. 
Late planted Tulips come up later, and suffer less from injury to 
the foliage caused by the keen cutting winds and frosts of early 
spring. On the other hand early planting is preferable to the 
grower, as the weather is milder and more likely to be favourable, 
and if an early frost comes, and stays for a month or so, the late 
planter may be forced to delay the operation until January or later. 
According to our floral ancestors tbe proper day for planting is 
November the 9th, or Lord Mayor’s day, and there is no doubt 
that about then is a very suitable time. Small seedlings and offsets 
should be planted early, say in September or October. On account 
of their small size they become soft, probably from loss of 
moisture through evaporation, if kept much longer out of the 
ground. They should be grown in a bed separately from the 
blooming bulbs, each variety kept by itself, and noted in some way 
to identify it. The soil may be the saoie as for the large bulbs, 
made a little lighter by the addition of sand. Offset growing, 
although tedious, is very important ; it provides a succession of 
maiden bulbs to replace those on the bed which have become 
unfit, either from loss of character or loss of size, to remain there. 
When the bulbs are ready to be planted, the soil, which should 
be about 3 or 4 inches below the edges of the boarded sides, 
must be lightly raked over to soften the surface, and the rows, 
6 inches apart, marked out on the bed. A convenient plan is 
to have the edging boards on both aides of the bed carefully 
marked with a chalk mark every 6 inches ; if a more permanent 
mark is desired it can be ensured by nicking the boards with a saw 
instead of using the chalk. To ensure the straightness of the row, 
and the proper distance between each hole being kept, it is well to 
have made a flat straight rod 4 feet long, with marks cut into it 
every 6 inches of its length. There will be seven such marks on 
it, and when it is laid on the surface of the bed between the first 
marks on the edging boards nearest to one end of the bed, the 
seven marks will exactly indicate the proper place for planting the 
seven holes of the first row ; every other row being treated in 
similar fashion the straightness and uniformity of the rows are 
ensured. By following this method every hole will be 6 inches 
apart from its immediate neighbours, and no bulb will be planted 
less than 6 inches from the outsides of the bed. 
In planting, the bulbs must be pressed gently into the soft soil 
until they will stand upright firmly ; this operation requires care, 
as the root plate is the vital part of the bulb, and is easily and 
irreparably injured, so before putting pressure on the bulb the 
absence of stones or other hard substances must be assured. When 
the bed is planted in this way the bulbs must be carefully covered 
3 or 4 inches deep with similar soil to what the bed is composed 
of, and no fear need be entertained as to the growth and health of 
the plants. 
Some growers prefer to put a little sand on the bed at each spot 
where a bulb is to be planted, and they also cover up each bulb 
with sand before putting on the covering soil. There is no 
objection to this, and perhaps some little advantage, as the bulbs 
bed down easily and safely in the soft sand, and when taking them 
up the sand is a sure indication as to where they are. 
There is another method of planting, which consists in making 
the bed the full height for a start, and then with a kind of 
boring machine, known as a Tulip planter, removing about 4 inches 
depth of soil at every hole, putting the bulbs down in the little 
pit thus formed, and then filling it up again. I fail to see any 
advantage in this plan, it is apparently slow and troublesome. 
(To be continued.) 
GROWING, SHOWING, AND JUDGING. 
Not any disparagement is intended of those excellent examples 
of culture seen, heard of, or read about, by saying that we look 
for the best on the exhibition tables, and to attain that attention is 
directed to minute details of culture, which, with non-competitors, 
is less a matter of urgency. It is frequently adduced as a high 
meed of praise that certain specimens noticed by correspondents 
were fit for the exhibition table, hence the importance of growing 
for showing, as a standard of perfection is admitted. Time has 
wrought changes in the gardening world which have invaded the 
field of flower shows. tSome of those princely establishments, in 
which tradition holds the memory of past achievements, no longer 
enter the arena. With smaller men it is a matter of more or less 
anxiety to know who are likely to oppose them in a contest, and if 
they find that some “big guns” are expected in the field a diffidence 
of encountering them ensues. The question is often asked of 
someone behind the scenes, “ Is So-and-so coming up to a certain 
show ? ” and should the answer be “ No ; So-and-so is now growing 
for market,” the news becomes public and a body of light infantry 
enter the field. So the falling away of the few becomes the 
opportunity of the many. 
Only in the Roses, I think, is protection afforded to small 
exhibitors, where classes are provided for growers not exceeding a 
given number of plants. But there does not appear any valid 
reason why this protection should not be extended to equally 
important flowers such as the Chrysanthemum. Taking a broader 
view of the question, could it not go further and measure the man 
according to the acres he rules over ? The gardener of a small 
suburban residence can be no match for his lordly neighbour 
presiding over a much larger area, and when his employers ordain 
that he should “ Do in and win,” he is severely handicapped, but 
endeavours by a prescient knowledge of probable weak classes to 
gain honours by strategical movements, whereas in the stronger 
ones it is all but a foregone conclusion of being tripped up in a 
wrestle with the giants. 
Amateurs who enjoy an amount of freedom not possessed by 
the professional gardener are generously provided for, as a rule, by 
having a little corner sacred to themselves, although they are not 
debarred from prospecting in the open field if they choose to do so. 
The designation of amateur implies no supposition of weakness. 
Being his own master he can confine his efforts to a limited number 
of objects as taste directs, and any falling short of the require¬ 
ments of his household can be made up by purchase, whereas, per 
contra, the gentleman’s gardener seldom has facility for doing so ; 
and when expected to grow for showing — and needless to add 
expected to win prizes—it is additional to his numerous duties. 
In the different interpretations of the word amateur, one is that 
employment of the term to distinguish the nursery trade from 
