N A R 



N A R 



flowers two or three from a spatlie, very elegant, 

 large and loose : the ])etals vellow : the cup halt' 

 an inch long, sinuated at the edge, of a deeper 

 yellow colour. It flowers in April, and is a 

 native of the soulhcrn parts of FJurope and of the 

 Levant. 



The thirtccnlh is named from the narrowness 

 of its leaves, like those of Rashes ; there are two 

 or three of them usually on a plant, and they are 

 angular, fleshy, and almost round : the scape is 

 round, hollow, producing at top from three to 

 five flowers from a spathe, sometimes no more 

 than two, very fragrant petals orbiculate or mu- 

 cronatc, both they and the cup yellow : the bulb 

 small, white, covered with dark membranes. It 

 is a native of Spain, flowering in April and 

 May. 



It varies with double flowers. 

 Culture. — All these different species and va- 

 rieties may be increased with facility, by plant- 

 ing the off-set bulbs from the roots; and by 

 sowing the seed in order to procure new varieties, 

 which is chiefly practised for the fine sorts of 

 Polyanthus Narcissus. 



For this last purpose the seed should be care- 

 fully saved from the best and most curious plants 

 after being perfectly ripened. 



The seed should be sown soon after it becomes 

 ripe, as about the beginning of August, in shal- 

 low boxes or flat pans perforated with holes in 

 the bottoms, aud filled with fresh light sandy 

 earth, beino- covered about a quarter of an inch 

 deep with fine sifted mould, and placed in such 

 situations as are only exposed to the morning 

 sun, till the beginning of winter, when they 

 should be removed to have the full sun, and be 

 sheltered from severe weather. In the spring, 

 when the plants appear, they should be occa- 

 sionally watered in dry weather, and be screen- 

 ed from the mid-day heat, ren)oving them into 

 cooler situations as the warm season advances, 

 keeping them free from all sorts of weeds. To- 

 wards the latter end of the summer, when 

 their stems decay, the surface inould of the 

 boxes or pans should be stirred or wholly 

 removed, and some fresh mould sifted over 

 the plants, being careful not to disturb the 

 roots, and keeping them rather dry in a shaded 

 place. 



They should have the same manage- 

 ment annually, till the period of their leaves 

 decaying in the third summer, when the bulbs 

 should be taken up, and the largest separated 

 and planted out on raised beds "of light fine 

 mould, in rows six inches apart, and three or 

 four distant in them, having the depth of two 

 or three inches. The smaller bulbs may be 

 covered in on another bed with fine mould, to 



remain till of sufficient size to be planted out as 

 above. 



They should afterwards be kept clean ; and 

 when they show flowers so as to ascertain their 

 properties, they may be removed, and managed 

 in the manner directed below. 



The ofl^-set bulbs of the o'id plants, especially 

 the double sorts, should be separated from the 

 roots annually, oral furthest every two or three 

 years, in the latter part of the summer, when 

 their leaves and stems decay, planting their larger 

 bulbs out at different tiines, from the end of Au- 

 gust to the beginning of November, in order to 

 aJord variety ; but the earlier they are planted 

 the stronger they blow. When left out of 

 the ground till February, or later, they mostly 

 appear weak. 



They succeed best where the soil is of a light, 

 dry, fresh, hazel, loamy quality, and the aspect 

 south-easterly; as where inclined to moisture 

 they are vc;,y apt to be destroyed. 



They afterwards only require to be kept free 

 from weeds, and to have the ground stirred 

 above them in the autumn. 



The small bulbs may be planted out in rows 

 in nursery-beds to increase for being planted out 

 in the same manner. 



When these roots are planted in the open bor- 

 ders orother places, in assemblage with other bul- 

 bous flowers, they should be deposited in little 

 patches, about three or four roots in each, putting 

 them in with a blunt dibble, or holing them in 

 with agardet\-trowel, three or four inchesdeep; in 

 which mode they display their flowers more con- 

 spicuously than when planted singly. 



Where a large quantity are planted out alone 

 in beds in order to exhibit a full bloom, as often 

 practised with the fine Po!i/anlhiis-Narcissi/s, 

 Jonquils, &c. the beds should be four feet wide, 

 with foot-and-half or two-feet wide allevs be- 

 tween thetT) ; in these beds the roots should be 

 planted in rows length-wavs, nine inches asun- 

 der, either with a blunt dibble or with a hoe, 

 three or four inches deep, and six distant in each 

 row, covering them evenly with the earth, and 

 raking the surface smooth. 



In order to blow the Poli/a/it/ius-Narcissiis 

 and .Tonquil in the highest perfection, curioits 

 florists often bestow particular care in their cul- 

 ture : some, preparing beds of compost, as for the 

 fine Hyacinths, See. managing them in the same 

 manner. But they succeed well in beds of light 

 dry mould. 



Where the bulbs of this sort are intend- 

 ed for sale, they should be lifted at furthest 

 every two years, to [irevent their becoming flat- 

 tened by pressure, and of course less valuable. 

 The bulbs mav be retained out of the ground 



