ARDGOWAN 



RENFREWSHIRE 



LTHOUGH botanists cannot be got to 

 recognise the snowdrop as a true native 

 of Britain, no foreigner establishes itself 

 more cordially wherever in our land it 

 finds the combination of a moist, cool 

 atmosphere with a free soil. Those persons who 

 have never happened to visit the west coast of 

 Scotland during January and February can have 

 little idea of the profuse display made by this little 

 bulb wherever it is given a chance, or of the rapidity 

 with which it takes possession of the floor of a 

 hollow wood. Probably the conditions are equally 

 favourable and produce a similar result in Ireland 

 and along the Welsh coast, but of this I cannot 

 speak with assurance, never having visited those 

 districts during the snowdrop season. Anyhow, you 

 must not look for snowdrops in sun-baked latitudes. 

 Some years ago, narcissus and other flowers arrived in 

 the market from Scilly unusually early. Now the snow- 

 drop is perhaps the only spring-flowering bulb which 

 cannot be coaxed or forced into blossom a day earlier 



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