OLD-TIME AND MODERN 9 



land organised a great conference in London, 

 and a permanent committee was appointed to 

 take cognisance of new varieties of daffodils 

 and make suitable awards to the more merit- 

 orious. The daffodil craze was now on in 

 earnest, and its impetus has increased con- 

 tinuously ever since. Scores of rival enthusi- 

 asts in Europe and Great Britain grow and 

 cross daffodils and exhibit their flowers 

 every year. Very high prices are paid for 

 bulbs of particularly choice varieties, many 

 of which cannot be purchased for less than 

 ten dollars to twenty-five dollars per bulb, 

 and a few of the very rare are worth as much 

 as fifty dollars, and even one hundred dollars, 

 per bulb. 



More than that, there are some daffodils 

 that may never be seen by the outside world, 

 for a coterie of six wealthy daffodil lovers in 

 England buys up the bulbs of any new varie- 

 ty of exceptional beauty and merit — if none 

 have escaped into commerce — paying extra- 

 vagant prices for the sole ownership of the 

 coveted beauties, from $500 to $2,000 

 sometimes being expended by these enthusiasts 

 for five or six bulbs. One of the compacts of 



