DAFFODIL CONFERENCE AND EXHIBITION. 



291 



part of the duty of the Narcissus Committee, or of this 

 Conference. When we love any object, there is hardly any 

 knowledge concerning the object which does not interest us. 

 And to those who love the Daffodil all knowledge which bears 

 on the Daffodil is very interesting. Moreover, we desire to 

 bring these plants to perfection, and to this end all knowledge 

 must be of use. I dare say many of you have followed the dis- 

 cussion which has recently taken place in the gardening papers 

 about the value of theoretical knowledge in relation to practical 

 cultivation. I may congratulate Mr. Thiselton Dyer on having 

 started a most interesting discussion, in the course of which 

 many good suggestions have been made. If I might sum up the 

 whole discussion with sententious brevity, I would say : All know- 

 ledge is of use if applied aright ; no knowledge is of use if applied 

 awry. I think I may assume with confidence that neither 

 the Narcissus Committee nor this Conference will apply its 

 knowledge awry, and that all the knowledge which we may 

 gather here respecting our favourite the Narcissus will be pro- 

 fitable. We are prepared to receive all knowledge concerning 

 it — such, for instance, as any information with regard to its 

 natural history, or the state in which it exists in nature ; 

 also as much knowledge as possible about hybridisation, for 

 this art often discloses the potentiality of the plant. Lastly, 

 we are willing to learn everything we can of the way in which 

 the soil should be prepared for the growth of the plant, and 

 concerning cultivation in general. And I venture to think when 

 you read the names of the gentlemen who have kindly offered 

 to bring before you the results of their observations, you will feel 

 sure that the knowledge which they will impart must prove of 

 great value. 



REPORT OF THE NARCISSUS COMMITTEE. 



At the Daffodil Conference of the Royal Horticultural Society 

 held in 1884, a resolution, proposed by Mr. Elwes and seconded 

 by Mr. J. G. Baker, was passed, " That in the opinion of this 

 Conference uniformity of nomenclature is most desirable, and 

 that garden varieties of Narcissi, whether known hybrids or 

 natural seedlings, should be named or numbered in the manner 

 adopted by florists, and not in the manner adopted by 



