90 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
time previous to my taking possession of it, it was by no means in “ high con¬ 
dition,” as we say of a Derby favourite or a university crew. 
I first trenched the ground to the depth of 18 inches, placing all the vege¬ 
table refuse I could get from it at the bottom of the trench. I then forked-in 
to the depth of 8 inches a coating of rich manure, and a few days previous to 
planting the bulbs I added 4 inches of road sand, which was slightly forked-in 
at the surface. When planting, the bulbs were also imbedded in road sand, and 
under these conditions, out of some four hundred bulbs there have been but very 
few failures indeed. The plants are all strong, and yet dwarf, and the flowers 
large and well-coloured. I have flowers of Keizer Kroon, Proserpine, White 
Pottebakker, Yellow Pottebakker, Van der Neer, Vermilion Brilliant, and 
others of the choicer kinds as fine as ever I saw them in pots, and this despite 
the cutting east wind that prevailed during the latter part of March and early 
in April, and that even now as I write is playing merciless sport with the tender 
shoots and the opening flowers in my little parterre, unchecked by any friendly 
shelter to ward off the unkindly attacks it persistently makes. 
I may say that as yet the majority of the newer flowers I am growing are 
not yet in bloom, and this because planted late. What are already in bloom 
were to be seen a few weeks ago in the grand collections of spring-flowering 
bulbs exhibited by Mr. William Paul at the Royal Horticultural Gardens, South 
Kensington, and by Messrs. W. Cutbush & Son, of Highgate, at the Crystal 
Palace, Sydenham. Such a collection as Mr. W. Paul’s was never before seen, 
and that during a season of which it was confidently predicted that “ Hyacinths 
and Tulips would be below the average quality of the bloom.” Unquestion¬ 
ably Mr. W. Paul has this season illustrated by his Hyacinths and Tulips 
especially a “ cultivable process ” of the highest value and fitness, and wherever 
lie lias exhibited he could say with Caisar, “I came, I saw, I conquered.” 
What superb Hyacinths were seen at South Kensington in the last week in 
March ! Whoever saw such a Laurens Koster, D.B., not only distinguished by 
the unusual size and symmetry of spike, but having that peculiar, rich violet-blue 
hue scarcely displayed by any other Hyacinth ? And then such a Lord Welling¬ 
ton, D.R., and King of the Blues, S.B., the premier flow r er of this division; or 
such a Garibaldi, S.R., or Madame Van der Hoop, S.W., and many others 
equally fine ! I shall anticipate with more than usual interest the next meeting 
in 1867 between my two friends Messrs. Paul k Cutbush, for now they appear 
to be on a perfect level as skilful cultivators. 
Looking over Mr. Paul’s collection of Tulips, I saw that he had produced 
some new double flowers, very novel in colour and striking to the eye. Un¬ 
fortunately they lack the substance of. the old Tournesol, or Duke of York, or 
the later-flowering variety Couronne Imperiale. These new flowers were of 
good size, and before they became fully expanded very pretty indeed. The 
following were the most noticeable :— 
. Salvator Rosa, ground colour pink, with flames of deep rose; pretty and 
novel. Albano, pale blush ground, feathered with bright pink, the ground 
colour, so pale that one flower was pure white ; very novel and pleasing. Mu¬ 
rillo,, very like Albano, indeed scarcely dissimilar enough to be considered as 
two varieties; growth and habit also identical. Lac Gris de Lin, glossy rosy 
puce, edged with whitish sulphur ; novel and good. L’Unique, rosy carmine 
with nankeen base and edging; quite a Tournesol shape. La Barocque, rosy 
crimson base, heavily edged with white, but only semi-double. General Dann, 
semi-double only; scarlet crimson, feathered and flaked, with gold; showy. 
Grenadier, a semi-double Brutus, with a little more depth of colour at the base 
of the flower; very showy. Konings Jurveel, glowing rosy crimson flaked with 
white; dwarf and showy. 
