Cultivation weakness of constitution. They have been reared in garden 

 of Daffodils luxury and are suited to richer soil and more artificial conditions. 

 If it had been otherwise, it is probable the hybridisation of 

 Daffodils would have received a considerable check. Owing to 

 the long period which has to elapse before a Daffodil seed 

 becomes a flowering bulb, and that out of two or three thousand 

 seedlings carefully raised to maturity a process occupying from 

 six to seven years only one or two may be fit to enter the 

 honourable ranks of " named seedlings," it is a costly thing to 

 produce a good new Daffodil. 



The successful culture of all sorts of Daffodils depends on 

 attention to a few matters, foremost among which is drainage. 

 In heavy soils deep well-drained beds should be provided, and it 

 is better to have them raised about six or seven inches above the 

 surrounding soil. Some sand or grit and a little wood ashes 

 may also be advantageously worked in, together with, if pro- 

 curable, plenty of fresh fibrous maiden soil. In soils of average 

 strength, and where there is good natural drainage, the Daffodil 

 flourishes, and its culture is a very simple matter. In very 

 light and sandy soils additional moisture and nutriment must be 

 provided. The extra moisture is best secured by placing a 

 layer of manure, stable or farm, below the bulbs, but it must be 

 at least twelve inches below the level at which the bulbs are 

 planted, for it is not intended for a stimulant, but to act as a 

 sponge for retaining the moisture so necessary to Daffodils, but 

 which must not be of a sour or stagnant nature. With regard 

 to providing extra nutriment, nothing is better than fine crushed 

 bone, of the quality called " quarter inch crushed bone," and it 

 can be either mixed with the soil, or sprinkled over the surface 

 on which the base of the bulbs rest, when planting in trenched 



