- 296 



The Narcissus Culture in Great Britain. Bull, des Rcmcign. 

 Agr.i No. 7. Paris, 1910. 



The culture of bulbs has been introduced in the British Islands 

 with great success and is nowadays one of the most prominent 

 cultures, tons of flowers being exported in the spring to London 

 and other markets. 



Lincoln and Cambridgeshire have now large acreages planted 

 with bulbs, some growers having from 20 to 50 acres under nar- 

 cissus culture. 



The soil is almost as well adapted to the onions as the Netherland 

 soils. Deep light soils are the best adapted for narcissus growing. 



Fresh manures must not be used, therefore the bulb planting 

 following a potato crop, is generally in use. As a rule bulbs must 

 not be kept long time out of the soil, and planting is done from 

 5 to 12 cm. deep, according to dimensions of bulbs. 



Weeds are carefully removed from the field in the spring. After 

 the leaf fall, bulbs are taken out of the ground and this work is 

 some times done by machine as for potatoes. For bulb production 

 frequent replanting is more necessary than tor flower production. 

 The following varieties are recommended for bulbs and flowers 

 under glass: 



Golden Spurs, Empereur, L'Incomparable, Sir Watkin, Bicolor 

 Horsefieldii, Imperatrice bicolore, Barri conspicuus. Poeticus orna- 

 tus, Bicolor Grandee, Pleasant Eye and Double White. 



The expenses per acre in Fens, average of 150 6*.; this ex- 

 pense increases in other districts and may be greatly reduced by 

 using horses in preparing the soil instead of hand labor. Bulbs 

 grow in value from 50 to ioo/ in a year, from 75 to 100% in 

 two years. Calculating the flowers produced, from 15 to 2o/ . pro- 

 fits must be added to those figures. 



Efforts should be made to obtain the flowers at an earlier date 

 by covering the plants with glasses. 



D. B. CRANE. The Book of the Sweet Pea. The Bodley Head, 

 J. Lane, London and New York, 1910, pp. x-f-136. 

 En the preface of the book the^author says: 



"No subject in the whole of the floral world has achieved 

 greater notoriety in recent years than the Sweet Pea(i), the peer 



(i) Lathyrus odoratus, Pois de senteur (Ed). 



