89 
The compiler of this book, Mr. Merton G. Ellis, has 
been kind enough despite our brief existence to request 
an article upon the methods of tulip culture and propa¬ 
gation. Although our methods are still in the making 
and although we recognize ourselves as less of authori¬ 
ties than we thoug’ht we were five years ago, we have 
pei haps reached a few conclusions, and these with our 
guesses we take real pleasure in passing on. 
I have alluded to the Northwest Pacific section as a 
way station for the tulip bulb. And in that connection 
I would quote a remark once made to the writer by E. J. 
Steele, the veteran and successful pansy grower: “Do 
not undertake the growing of any plant against the 
protest of nature. If you start you will never succeed. 
You have troubles enough with Nature as an assist¬ 
ant. Well, whatever the climatic merits of other parts 
of the United States we feel that Nature is on the side 
of the tulip grower in the Willamette Valley. Weatner 
that other people grumble over we are quite cheerful 
about. The winter skies misty, cloudy or rainy, the 
cool clearing days of April and May, the moderate days 
of June and July which conduce to the firm, shapely 
and dependable bulb—these are our heavy battalions. 
And without these there would be no culture and propa¬ 
gation to recount. 
Some flowers above others, it may be said, repay a 
minimum of care with a maximum of bloom, and the 
tulip is of this class. There is a strong drive in a 
healthy tulip bulb, and it stands rough treatment to the 
point of wonder. But need one expect that even a bulb 
of this vigor can be tossed in the ground, experience 
a period of neglect and then produce a marvel of a 
flower? As a matter of fact it will not do it. 
