DECEMBER 



IRISH GARDENING. 



i8i 



Hybridizing Narcissi. 



THERE is quite an army of hybridists in various 

 parts of the United Kingdom busily engaged in 

 the improvement of the narcissus. The results 



of their labours are to be seen in the wonderful flower^ 



of varied form and brilliant 



colour which are exhibited 



at the increasing number of 



dafibdil and spring flower 



shows. Although much has 



been done and great im- 

 provement effected during 



the last few years, still the 



possibilities of the narcissus 



are practically inexhaustible. 



as every species and hybrid 



may be intercrossed one with 



another. 



The hybridizing of narcissi 



has, within recent years, 



been reduced to a very fine 



science. It can now be 



foretold with a fair amount 



of certainty what type ot 



flower a particular cross 

 will produce. The origin of 



several natural hybrids has 



been proved by the raising 



of varieties identical under 

 artificial cross fertilization, 

 also by sowing self-fertilized 

 seed from a hybrid ; the 

 progeny are stated by the 

 Rev. Mr. Engleheart to 

 have reverted to the two 

 species from which the hybrid 

 was raised. Taking the 

 classes as they are gener- 

 ally to be found in a daffodil 

 specialist's catalogue, the 

 large Trumpet varieties are 

 all got by crossing the 

 different forms of iV. psuedo 

 narcissus with one another. 

 The various Incomparabilis 

 forms are the result of 

 crossing .V. psuedo tuircissu 

 and .V. po/ticus. By again 

 crossing N. Incompnrahiln 

 by N. po(itiais we get Bur- 

 bidgei and the new Engle- 

 heart! class. The new 



Posticus varieties are the ,A Chinese Plant, first in 



outcome of intercrossing the 



old Posticus varieties. ^V. odorous is stated to be the 

 result of crossing A', psuedo narcissus by A', jonquila, 

 whereas from X. posticus crossed by A', tazctta we get 

 A', poi'taz. The older varieties have already been 

 crossed for almost all they are worth, although there 

 may be a slight chance of getting something new and 

 improved from them. Still it is little better than a waste 

 of time and labour to work with inferior material, 

 further than the satisfaction that may be derived from 



raising a flower similar to one that is already in com- 

 merce. I would, therefore, recommend any one who con- 

 templates hybridizing narcissi to procure some of the 

 newer and more improved forms to start with. No 

 standard o^ excellence has been laid down by the 

 Narcissus Committee of the Royal Horticultural Society 

 or anv other daffodil soci.-iv. For fvhihition, however. 



Rhododendron Yunnanense 



urjduced by the French Missionaries, pht 



.iphed I 



the following points are of paramount importance — 

 viz., symmetrical form, colour, substance and size; if 

 any of the above are lacking the flower loses consider- 

 ably for exhibition purposes. For example, no matter 

 how large and fine the trumpet of a daffodil may be, if 

 its perianth be flabby, transparent, and "spidery," it 

 would not be so good for exhibition as a much less 

 flower that had a firm, flat and overiapping perianth. 

 The spidery flower, however, is not by any means to 



