NARCISSI 439 



After all, it is a simple matter, yet with many it would mean growing 

 ten times as many bulbs and making ten times as much money 

 from them. You may not be able to make Roses and Carnations 

 pay, but I have yet to see the establishment so small or old that it 

 isn't possible to do Narcissi there on a small scale better than the 

 biggest bulb forcer can do them in the most uptodate range and 

 with all kinds of facilities. 



Forcing Narcissi for Profit 



To make the most out of the Narcissi you grow under glass, 

 make out a list of the Polyanthus sorts, such as Paperwhites, Grand 

 Soleil d'Or, Double Romans and others you may want, then figure 

 about how many you can use each week from the end of November 

 or thereabouts up to February first. Add twenty-five per cent 

 more to that amount and place your order. When the bulbs are 

 planted and brought into a house, make it a rule not to subject 

 them to any greater degree of heat than you started out to do, 

 so as to be sure to follow your original schedule. There is no harm 

 in having to purchase flowers should occasions demand this; in 

 fact, it is a far better thing than to be caught with flats full of 

 stock ready to be cut but for which you have no use. 



While we haven't always control over weather conditions 

 and temperature, a whole lot can be done to avoid having too many 

 flowers come in at one time and then having no flowers at all for the 

 several weeks following. 



What holds good with the Polyanthus varieties holds good 

 with the others in regard to figuring out the amount of stock you 

 can use. AU other sorts, outside of the Polyanthus, can freeze 

 when once well rooted and kept outdoors; yet freezing is not neces- 

 sary in order to have them force weU. In fact, too much freezing 

 will, or at least may, hurt them, so see to it that the flats or pans the 

 bulbs are in are not only moist, but are well protected with a layer 

 of earth over them as weU as manure or straw on top of the earth. 

 If you are located in a section where several feet of snow in January 

 is nothing uncommon, I should place boards over the straw to make 

 shoveling easier. 



Narcissi in Frames 

 It doesn't pay the retail grower to plant 1000 or more of one 

 variety of Narcissus (with the exception perhaps of ^V. poeticus) 

 outdoors and place frames and glass over them for early Spring 

 flowering. The flowers don't last long enough to permit you to 

 grow on so many of one variety and dispose of them. What is, 

 however, a good way is to plant just a few — say eight or ten sorts— 

 both single and double; they will not aU bloom at the same time and 

 no doubt will come in handy. 



