May  14,  1896, 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
447 
and  the  delicate  rose  of  Modesty,  that  receive  and  thoroughly  deserve 
a  very  large  share  of  admiration. 
borne  of  the  varieties,  and  others  of  similar  character,  are  more  or 
less  scarce,  but  not  a  few  are  fortunately  beautiful,  and,  as  in  other 
commodities,  the  supply  rather  than  intrinsic  merit  governs  the  price. 
Still,  there  are  always  people  who  prefer  rarities,  and  are  willing  to 
pay  for  them,  but  as  a  rule,  beginners  not  unnaturally  commence  with 
Visitors  who  prefer  to  see  blocks  of  colour  each  composed  of  several 
plants  of  any  given  variety  can  do  so,  for  an  immense  number  of  Tulips 
is  grown  of  practically  all  sections  and  from  various  countries.  From 
the  flower  fields  of  Ditton  came  the  varieties  that  were  honoured  laBt 
week,  and  represented  in  the  engraving,  fig.  72.  There  are,  as  only  a 
cursory  glance  will  show,  three  distinct  Tulips  represented,  two  of  them 
being  species  and  the  other  a  Darwin.  The  Royal  Horticultural  Society’s 
Floral  Committee  accorded  an  award  of  merit  to  each  of  them.  No.  1  is 
Fig.  72.— DECOKATIVE  TULIPS.— 1,  TuLIpA 
the  cheaper  forms.  Those  who  desire  the  greatest  amount  of  beauty  at 
the  smallest  outlay  will  not  err  by  trying  the  unnamed  mixed  varieties. 
As  a  floral  spectacle  the  beds  of  them  at  Ditton  are  rich  beyond  descrip¬ 
tion.  Thousands  of  blooms,  in  every  conceivable  colour  found  in  Tulips, 
glittering  in  the  sunshine,  command  admiration,  and  if  such  beds  were 
provided  in  the  London  parks  they  would  take  the  town  by  storm. 
These  mixed  masses  are  not  the  less  but  the  more  beautiful  by  the 
diversity  in  height  of  the  plants  of  the  different  varieties,  as  there  is  no 
suspicion  of  heaviness  and  stiff  formality.  There  have  been  many 
brilliantly  imposing  beds  of  early  Dutch  Tulips  in  the  London  parks 
this  season,  but  none  to  equal  in  beauty  in  its  varied  aspects  the 
splendid  mixed  masses  of  chiefly  English  varieties  provided  by  Mr.  Barr 
for  all  to  see  and  enjoy  who  have  the  opportunity. 
VIT ALLInA  j  2,  T.  saxatilis;  3,  The  Sultan. 
Tulipa  vitallina,  a  large  flowered  species  of  great  beauty.  The  colour 
is  very  pale  sulphur  yellow  with  occasional  suffusions  of  green  towards 
the  base  of  the  flower.  No.  2,  T.  saxatilis,  is,  however,  of  entirely 
different  appearance,  for  the  flowers  are  of  medium  size  only,  while  the 
colour  is  soft  rose  throughout  the  upper  portion  of  the  segments,  the 
base  being  deep  yellow.  No.  3,  the  Darwin  Tulip,  is  well  named  The 
Sultan.  The  form  is  almost  perfect,  and  the  colour  is  the  most  intense 
maroon  black.  The  display  is  extensive  indeed,  brilliant,  and  diversified, 
the  collection  in  the  aggregate  presenting  a  veritable  museum  of  Tulips, 
and  if  it  be  true  that  supply  creates  a  demand  many  homes  and  gardens 
are  destined  to  be  brightened  with  English  Tulips  in  the  not  far  distant 
future  ;  at  least  if  this  is  otherwise  ft  cannot  be  the  fault  of  the  bold 
bulbarians  who  are  devoting  themselves  so  zealously  to  the  object  in 
view. — The  Junior. 
