NARCISSUS. 



327 



NASTURTIUM. 



bracing Jonquils (Narcissus Jonquilla) 

 double and single, the Polyanthus Nar- 

 cissus (N. Tazetta) in its numerous varieties, 

 the Hooped Petticoat (N. bulbocodium}, the 

 Poet's Narcissus (N. poeticus], and many 

 others. The Double Roman Narcissus 

 (N. Tazetta Romanus), planted early in 

 September, will bloom indoors before 

 Christmas, while the Paper "SVhite (N. T. 

 papyraceus}) combined with the other 

 varieties for indoor culture, if planted in 

 succession from the 1st September to the 

 3 1st December, will maintain a rich floral 

 display till the end of April. 



Culture indoors. This is similar to that 

 recommended for the hyacinth. The bulbs 



POETS NARCISSUS DOUBLE VARIETY. 



of the Polyanthus Narcissus being large, a 

 5-inch pot will be needed for one bulb, and 

 a 6-inch pot for three ; a group of six in 

 an 8-inch pot will produce an exceedingly 

 beautiful effect. 



Culture out of doors. This is exactly the 

 same as that for the hyacinth, except that 

 the crown of the bulb should be at least 

 5 inches under the surface, and for winter 

 protection should be covered with about 

 I inch of newly dropped leaves, or 3 inches 

 of cocoa- fibre. 



September is the time for sowing seed, 

 in order to obtain new varieties. For the 

 mode of proceeding we cannot do better 



than quote the words of Mr. Leeds, of 

 Manchester, who was one of the most 

 successful amateur cultivators 01 tne nar- 

 cissus. Mr. Leeds says: **To obtain 

 good varieties, it is needful, the previous 

 season, to plant the root3 of some of each 

 kind in pots, and to bring them into the 

 greenhouse in spring to flower, so as to 

 obtain pollen of the late-flowering kinds to 

 cross with those which otherwise would 

 have passed away before these were in 

 flower. With me the plants always seed 

 best in the open ground. When the seed- 

 vessels begin to swell, the flower-stems 

 should be carefully tied up, and watched 

 until the seeds turn black. I do not wait 

 until the seed-vessels burst, as many seeds 

 in that case fall to the ground, and are lost, 

 but take them off when mature, with a 

 portion of the stem, which I insert in the 

 earth in a seed- pot, or pan, provided for 

 their reception. I place them in a north 

 aspect, and the seeds, in due season, are 

 shed as it were, naturally, into the pot of 

 earth. I allow the seeds to harden for a 

 month on the surface before covering them 

 half an inch deep with sandy soil. The soil 

 should be two-thirds pure loam and one- 

 third sharp sand ; the drainage composed 

 of rough turfy soil. In October, I plunge 

 the seed- pots in a cold frame facing the 

 south, and the young plants begin to appear 

 in December and throughout the winter, 

 according to their kinds and the mildness 

 of the -weather. It is needful, in their 

 earliest stage, to look weH after slugs and 

 snails." 



Nastur'tium (nat. ord. Tropseola'cese). 

 The nasturtium proper belongs to an 

 altogether different order, namely, the 

 CruciferiZy and includes the watercress ; 

 but the name is so generally applied, 

 though wrongly, to the varieties of Tro- 

 pseolum grown in gardens, that the error 

 is continued here in the interest of the 



