1S75. ] 
GOSSIP ABOUT TULIPS. 
203 
gratulation to tlie growers. September and October last, tbe months for pre¬ 
paring the ground, and making up the beds for the reception of the bulbs, were wet, 
with sharp frosts at nights ; and November, the usual time for planting, was, 
after the first week, mostly unfavourable, since there was much rain, with keen 
frosty nights. During its first twelve days, however, I managed to get in three 
beds out of ten; then I was stopped by the frost up to the middle of January, when 
in the wet and mud I managed to get in two more beds, and was again stopped 
until the middle of February, when, having five beds to plant, I commenced 
again, but did not make a finish until quite late in February. Strange to 
say, the five last planted beds came up, grew, and did equally as well, or even 
better, than the three beds planted in the fore part of November. The two 
beds planted in January did by far the worst; many of the roots rotted in the 
ground, and those which survived broke up into small withered offsets. With 
the exception of those two beds, I never had a finer growth, or a better prospect of 
a fine bloom, up to the morning of May 23, six days before the National show- 
day, when we had one of the most fearful thunder and hailstorms I can recollect; 
the storm lasted over half-an-hour, hailstones like lumps of ice of the size of 
marbles, with blustering winds, cutting down the blooms and the grass of the 
plants as if they had been put through some chopping-machine. Cabbages, 
Rhubarb, and young plants of different vegetables were also completely spoiled. 
The early part of that morning was clear, and the sun was very hot, which 
caused the blooms to spread themselves quite open, and the storm came 
on very suddenly while the flowers were in that open state. I had only just 
time to get the cover on the one bed I protect for showing from, and even on 
that bed some of the flowers were injured by heavy rain and hail beating through 
the cover, but with all, I don’t suppose a finer bloom of Tulips has been witnessed 
during 1875 than this bed contained. From my collection of seedling breeders I 
have some of the finest breaks I ever had in any one year previous to the 
present, but unfortunately, with the exception of one flower which happened to 
have a bell-glass placed over it, all the others were cut up before I had time to 
tally them. Thus ends my first story, which I think will be vouched as correct 
by any Tulip-growing friends. 
As I have on several occasions been asked by some of our younger fanciers 
to give them advice on the growth and management of this flower, and on the 
preparation of the beds, &c., and as the season is now coming on for commencing 
operations towards another season’s growth, I will offer a few hints that may be 
useful. The first requisites are the Soil, and the proper Preparation of the Beds. 
Those who may have ground which is tolerably fresh, loamy, or sandy, will, for 
the first season’s growth, only require a good dusting of quick-lime, sifted 
through a sieve with half-inch meshes, the lime to be thrown over the bed 
and forked in. After that, let it rest for a week or ten days, and then give it 
another forking-over, and repeat the forking three or four times at similar 
intervals. Then throw out the soil to nearly a spade-depth, and if it can be 
