500 
tical with Vulipa suaveolens, and the late bloom- 
ers with Tulipa Gesneriana. 
During the time of the tulipomania, and even 
in a considerable degree in the succeeding times 
down to the present day, a prime or a good tulip 
was not necessarily a very beautiful one, but 
simply a very rare one; but, in all the sober 
schools of modern floriculture, it is essentially 
and even eminently beautiful in both form and 
colour, whether it be rare or common,—and ac- 
cording to general consent, it must possess the 
following characters: ——“ The stem should be 
strong, elastic, and erect, and about 30 inches 
above the surface of the bed. The flowers should 
be large, and composed of 6 sepals or petals; 
these should proceed a little horizontally at first, 
and then turn upwards, forming almost a perfect 
cup, with a round bottom, rather widest at the 
top. The three exterior petals should be rather 
larger than the three interior ones, and broader 
at their base; all the petals should have per- 
fectly entire edges, free from notch or serrature, 
the top of each should be broad and well rounded; 
the ground colour of the flower, at the bottom of 
the cup, should be clear white or yellow, and the 
various rich-coloured stripes, which are the prin- 
cipal ornament of a fine tulip, should be regular, 
bold, and distinct on the margin, and terminate 
in fine broken points elegantly feathered or pen- 
cilled. The centre of each leaf or petal should 
' contain one or more bold blotches or stripes, in- 
termixed with small portions of the original or 
breeder colour, abruptly broken into many irre- 
gular obtuse points.” 
A self-tulip is always raised from seed; and 
under suitable circumstances of soil and age and 
management, may give rise to one or more fine 
varieties of either bizarre, byblomen, or rose. A 
breeder is a choice self, from five to nine years 
of age, from the seed, still vigorous, tall, and 
elastic in the stem, beautifully formed in cup 
and sepal, of an uniform colour on both surfaces, 
of a pure white or bright yellow in the bottom, 
and either black or dark in the anthers and 
stigmas; and if it be properly grown, and judi- 
ciously treated, and perseveringly cared for, it 
will sooner or later “break” into a bizarre, or a 
byblomen, or a rose,—or in other words, develop 
the colours and markings of one of a varie- 
gated and richly tinted variety. But a breeder 
of any of the three classes is not a breeder of 
either of the other two ; some breeders break in 
the very earliest years of blooming, and others 
not till after a number of years, perhaps so many 
as twelve or even twenty; and the variegated 
offspring of some have a tendency to revert to 
the breeder characters, while the variegated off- 
spring of others are absolutely or comparatively 
permanent, and have been known to transmit 
their acquired characters, through the medium 
of their offset-bulbs, with very little variation, 
for nearly half a century. The influences most 
favourable to the sure and brilliant breaking of 
TULIP. 
breeders are not well understood in Britain, and — 
have been the topic of much conjecture and dis- 
cussion among florists, and may best be studied 
by careful enquiry into the practices of the most 
successful tulip-growers of Holland. 
An easy and efficient method of obtaining 
valuable breeders, and even some splendid broken 
flowers, from 150 or 200 seeds, in a period of 
from 5 to 7 years, is detailed as follows by a 
writer in the Gardener’s Gazette :—“ In Novem- 
ber, take a common twelve-sized pot ; put about 
1 inch or 14 inch layer of crocks, and fill up the 
pot with a rich light compost, tolerably free 
from stones, such as would be used for carna- 
tions; shake it down a little, and level the top 
even with the edge of the pot. Spread the seed 
on this; plunge it in the ground up to the rim. 
of the pot, as the earth settles down, by water- 
ing, and sift the same kind of compost on the 
seeds, covering them to half an inch in depth 
and not more. When they come up, sift the same 
kind of light rich earth upon them; for, without 
doubling down the grass, it will raise the soil 
above the embryo bulbs. The heat of the sun 
and the extreme of the frost must be kept from 
the plants, no matter how; the one or the other 
would stint the growth, if not kill them; nor 
must they ever be dry. When the grass has 
turned yellow, sift the mould through a small 
sieve, and collect your bulbs; or if they be not 
very near together, you may allow them to stand 
a second year; but they grow larger when taken 
up, and kept out of the ground a short time. 
In October plant them again in pots, an inch 
apart, and sink them as before. Take them up 
as before. The third year plant them again in 
October, two inches apart in the row, and two 
inches deep, in a properly prepared bed of rich 
earth, and let the rows be six inches apart. Here 
they must have a foot, at least, of good soil, free 
from large stones, and be kept very clear from 
weeds. When they die down, they must betaken | 
up again. The fourth year they must be planted 
three inches apart in the row, and three inches 
deep, and be taken up as before, when the foliage 
is decayed. The fifth year, plant the bulbs four 
inches apart, in good compost, as before, and in 
October. This year many will bloom, of a self 
colour. If they have thin petals, pointed petals, 
foul bottoms, or are of a bad form, throw them 
away before they have done blooming—it pre- 
vents mistakes—and throw away all their offsets 
at the same time. If they have thick petals, 
round at the ends, forming a good cup, and hav- 
ing a clean yellow or white bottom, mark them 
to be kept separate from that season onwards, 
and place them, on taking up, in separate bags 
or boxes with their increase; so that, when any 
one breaks into colours, the whole of that variety 
may be either saved or destroyed, as they may 
deserve.” 
The matured bulbs of selfs, and all bulbs of 
bizarres, byblomens, and roses, succeed best, and 
