GARDEN tulips have become so freely hybridised that it is no easy matter to determine to which particular species they severally belong. Practically it is of little consequence, and probably in the genus Tulipa, as at present defined, we have not more than half a dozen species, although in the books we may find a register of forty or fifty. For garden purposes we have a series of distinct types that may be recognised as specific. They are T. Pracox, the head of the early tulips; T. gesneriana, the head of the late tulips; T. suaveolens, the head of the Van Thol tulips; and T. turcica, the parrot or ridiculous tulip, a delightful absurdity, rich in colour, as various as folly, and as ugly as any hater of florists' flowers can desire. Others that remain for the curious collector, such as T. sylvestris, the British woodland tulip, T. clusiana, a very delicate tulip, and T. celsiana, that is like a large yellow crocus, will be found by the earnest man easily enough, for are they not in the trade catalogues, priced at so much per dozen, and needing only love and patience to grow them perfectly? The tulip figured is the famous Keizerskroon, a most fitting representative of the entire section of early tulips, whose collective name is Legion, and whose proper patrons are the souls comprised in the word everybody, and that are so free and easy in their habits of life that they can live and prosper anywhere. As a matter of fact, the early tulips are the cheapest, most showy, most accommodating, and (when skillfully handled) the most lasting of all the spring flowers; and thereby hangs a tale.

In all current histories of the tulip it is commonly assumed that the late tulips, descended from T. gesneiana, were the subjects of the extraordinary speculations of the seventeenth century, collectively known as the "tulip mania." But the late or "florists'" tulips have no such special distinction, for of the variety named Lac van Rhyn, a single bulb of which in the days of the mania was sold for 175 gulden, is still in existence, and is an early tulip, much prized as a bedder, and obtainable at a few shillings per dozen. So, again, the White and Red Bordered, known in Holland as Wit en Rood borde, each bulb of which was sold at 2,000 gulden, is still in cultivation as an early variety, and commands a very low price as a thing of little account. The true state of the case is set forth at length, on the basis of documentary evidence, in a lecture on the tulip by the present writer, the text of which will be found in the Gardeners' Magazine of March 26, 1881. It is therein conclusively established that the early florists favoured the early and the late varieties about equally; and Parkinson and Hanbury concur in representing the early section as of the first importance, from the high standard of technical judging that prevailed in days when the tulip was in the height of its fame. The tulips to which the florists give attention now are late tulips exclusively; they can see no merit in the early ones, and from their point of view there can be no question as to the soundness of their choice. The early tulips give us none of the rare pencillings of flames and feathers; the pure white basis proper to a tulip of high breeding is unknown amongst them; and the short tazza form, smooth and evenly expanded, like Hebe's cup, they cannot show. Consequently, the early tulips have been thrown out of the select catalogue, and the lovers of gay flowers who care little for fanciful markings that are very costly, but care much for abundant colour at a low price, may be fully gratified, and after all may still congratulate themselves that the cheap early tulips were once upon a time valued above rubies, and that only wealthy persons could afford to use them for the adornment of their gardens. When the bulb season is in full tide at Haarlem, the tulips make a marvellous display of colour. In the later days of April the hyacinths are in perfection, and as they decline at the dawn of the merry month of May, the early tulips come forth in sheets of crimson, scarlet, purple, glittering silver, and refulgent gold. In the way of flowers, it is a question if any place in the whole world can match the display at Haarlem and Overween, where some 700 acres of land are occupied with bulbs, the great bulk of which bloom at one and the same time. To see the sight is, comparatively speaking, such an easy matter, that it may be recommended as a proper subject for an excursion, especially, too, as it is at the very time when the Netherlands are in every way the most attractive, for as we travel through the country the new spring growth of the pastures and the myriad golden flowers that deck the water-courses constitute in themselves an entertainment of the most refreshing character, calculated, in behalf of any one whom a long winter has troubled, to restore the energies and drive dull care away.