ON TULIPS. 
57 
colours on a yellow ground. I would here mention that neither 
colour is considered superior to the others ; at the same time, 
there is no doubt the rose on white is most pleasing to the eye, 
but we must not allow ourselves to be carried away by the first 
glance, but rather judge by the real merit of the flower. 
In the distribution of the colour, I consider a fine rich sharp 
feather, as it is termed, (which is so named from the resemblance 
it has to the feather part of the quill, but by the French florists 
called the moustache,) commencing on the edge of the lower part 
of the petals, a short distance from the staminse,—and continuing 
completely round the top, where it should be deepest, to the other 
side, with each petal alike,—and leaving the remainder of the 
flower of the clear ground colour, without any spots or specks, as 
the most perfect and beautiful character. Next to this comes the 
flamed flower, which should have, besides the feather, a rich beam 
up the rib of each of the petals, branching off on either side, and 
the points meeting the feather ; at the same time preserving a suffi¬ 
ciency of the ground colour between the flaming to display it to the 
greatest advantage. There is also another kind of flame, much 
admired about London, and some parts of the country, which is a 
flame beginning at the lower part of the petals, and branching 
upwards without any feather; this gives a beautiful star-like 
appearance when the flower is expanded. There are other 
distributions of colour, such as a single stripe up the rib of 
the petal, &c.; but wherever the colour is placed, all the 
petals should be alike, or as nearly so as possible, and in all 
cases there should be a circle of the ground colour round the 
staminae. 
All the various distributions of colour add much to the effect 
of a bed, but some of them are not such flowers as can be shown 
for prizes, particularly in some parts of the country, where the 
only characters admissible are the feathered and the flamed. The 
brilliancy and intensity of the colour are of considerable import¬ 
ance ; at tlie same time there are some light coloured flowers very 
beautiful. Whatever the shade of colour may be, it should be well 
defined and clear, and the flower free from the breeder, or original 
colour; and if there is a second shade, which is sometimes the 
case in the flamed variety, it should be bordered with the darker 
colour ; which prevents its flushing or running. The flushing or 
smearing of the colour is at all times most objectionable, but 
VOL. I. NO. III. i 
