LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 
423 
and as soon as this is over the awning is immediately removed, in order 
that the plants may enjoy full air and light, which they very much 
require after being so long shaded. 
When the stems and leaves become yellow and withered, which 
usually happens in about a month after the bloom, the bulbs are taken 
up and laid on the surface of the bed, each in its own place, and lightly 
covered with sand or part of the compost. This is called ripening the 
bulbs, which is accomplished in about three weeks, when they are taken 
up singly and trimmed of the remains of the stem and leaves, which 
are cut off close, and freed from loose skins, fibres, and the largest 
offsets, and then all stored away together in drawers kept in a dry 
room. 
After passing the basin we arrive at the tulip bed. This is prepared 
by stirring the bottom deeply, and forming a surface layer fourteen 
inches deep of three parts rich mellow loam, one part fine leaf mould, 
one part perfectly rotten dung, and half a part of pure sand. This 
compost is rich and porous, properties necessary for the tulip. All 
this preparation of the bed is done previous to the first of November; 
and after being thoroughly settled and laid, rounding two inches higher 
in the middle than at the sides, the bulbs are put in about the eighth 
of the month. The bed is four feet wide, which holds seven rows of 
bulbs, with seven-inch intervals between, and the bulbs are also seven 
inches apart in the rows. They are placed in sand, as practised with 
hyacinths, and let in full three inches deep. 
In planting the bulbs, the tallest growing varieties are placed in the 
centre row or rows, and the dwarf-growing kinds a$ the sides. 
This bed is treated in all respects like that for hyacinths, already 
described, as to defending against hail-storms, and particularly after 
the bloom-buds appear among the leaves, erecting the awning, &c. 
Tulips also require to be supported when in bloom. This is done by 
fixing green-coloured lines along each row, from end to end of the bed. 
To these lines the stems are tied with worsted, such as is mentioned for 
hyacinths. 
When the beauty of the flowers is over, and the greater number have 
lost their petals, the awning is removed, and the hoops replaced, to 
allow of occasional covering against excessive rain. All the seed-vessels 
are cut off, because, as seeds are not wanted, allowing them to ripen 
only exhausts the bulbs to no purpose. When the stem is so far 
withered as to present a purple colour, it is a sign that connection with 
the bulb is cut off, and therefore the bulbs themselves may be taken up, 
dried, and stored. During the time the stem and leaves are decaying, 
