SOIL AND SITUATION 33 



proper time comes. (5) There should be a sensible 

 system of labelling which should be carried out carefully, 

 so that the names of the plants you value may not be 

 lost by the perishing of the labels themselves, or the 

 obliteration of the writing upon them. 



Now for the special rules, and 



(l) As TO SOIL. The greater number of varieties 

 will do very fairly well in almost any kind of garden 

 soil, but even the most accommodating kinds will of course 

 produce their best results when grown in the most 

 suitable surroundings. It is often stated that the 

 Narcissus does best in strong soil. But such a state- 

 ment is misleading when made without modification. 

 Let me tell my own experience, reaching over a good 

 many years, with a large and representative collection. 

 I began growing Narcissi in a garden of very good but 

 decidedly strong loam, and inclined to be wet in winter. 

 The soil was rather shallow, varying from eleven to 

 fourteen inches in depth, and resting on a sub-soil of 

 strong clay. I got exceptionally fine flowers, but many of 

 the plants "went off 7 ," and I found at lifting time a large 

 number of bulbs affected with "basal rot" [see chap. x.]. 

 I was told I must expect heavy losses of this kind in 

 Narcissus growing, but the percentage seemed too high. 

 Accordingly, I made a number of deep, well-drained 

 beds, and mixed a lot of lighter soil with the 

 natural soil of the garden, and worked in a plentiful 

 supply of " wood-ashes " before planting. In these 

 beds I planted delicate and doubtful kinds, and the 

 more expensive bulbs of vigorous kinds, and put the 

 white Daffodils and some other very delicate kinds in 

 maiden loam of a rather light and gritty character. The 

 result has been delightful, and for years past my 

 Narcissi have not only given me excellent flowers (not 

 quite so large perhaps in some cases as in the heavy 

 soil, but still very excellent, and year by year maintain- 

 c 



