440 FRITZ BAHR'S COMMERCIAL FLORICULTURE 



If you plant TV. poeticus in a 

 5-ft.-wide bed, a part of the 

 bed may be covered with a 

 frame and the flowers be had 

 ten days or so earlier, which 

 also pays. 



PAPERWHITES FOR EARLY 

 FORCING 



The Narcissi are divided 

 according to their flowers into 

 three classes: short, medium, 

 and long trumpet varieties. 

 Among the shorts, Paperwhite 

 is the best known and most 

 used, and it is especially 

 adapted for early forcing. 



Paperwhites, Grand Soleil 

 d'Or, Double Romans, Grand 



- T , Monarque, Her Majesty and 



Fig. 212. NARCISSUS HENRY IRVING." .^ , U J , 



This is one of our many fine Narcissi for m r e than a dozen others belong 

 either forcing under glass or planting out- to this same class which we 

 doors know as the Polyanthus Nar- 



cissi. None of them is hardy 



but all are good for early forcing. Paperwhites are best planted 

 in 3-in.-deep flats. When forcing on a small scale, allow a little 

 space between the bulbs; the first batch is just as well off in a frame 

 with a little shade as indoors. If planted in September, bring in the 

 first lot by the middle of October. 



If allowed to come along in a Carnation house, they will start 

 to flower by the middle of November, and it will be well in December 

 before they are all cut. For Christmas, plant about the same time, 

 but keep the plants cool until the end of November; the cooler 

 they are kept and the less forcing you do, the better the flowers. 

 It is up to about the end of January that Paperwhites pay best; 

 after that Freesias, white Tulips and other flowers are preferred 

 by your customers who are then ready for the change. This is not 

 to say that for funeral design work you cannot use the Paperwhites 

 to best advantage, but their strong odor is often offensive. Yet 

 most people overlook that during December, for the flowers are new 

 to them and a change from Chrysanthemums, Roses, or Carnations 

 is welcome. If you grow them in bulb pans and have them well 

 done, you will find a sale for them around Christmas. 



With a scarcity of other flowers you can lift plants just coming 

 into flower out of the flats and use them in made-up arrangements 



