The Daffodil 



the alstroemeria and the agave, and all the hundreds 

 of varieties of narcissi. 



In late years the Daffodil's message of spring has 

 been brought with special force to the dwellers in 

 large cities, who, moreover, receive it earlier than 

 the country folk of the surrounding districts, for 

 they do not know the Daffodil till late in March. 

 Directly the New Year is in, in the very deadest 

 time of the year, suddenly market stalls and florists' 

 shops are lighted up by yellow blossoms from a 

 warmer climate. One of the most remarkable minor 

 developments of our present-day civilisation is the 

 creation of this trade in cut flowers, and of that trade 

 the branch that deals with the supply of Daffodils 

 and other narcissi is the oldest and by far the largest. 

 It is just about forty years ago that the first box 

 of cut Daffodils was sent from the Scilly Isles to 

 Covent Garden Market. Encouraged by the success 

 of the simple venture, the islanders began to collect 

 and transplant the wild bulbs that grew so freely 

 in their mild and equable climate, and thus their 



