DAFFODIL CONFERENCE AND EXHIBITION. 



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the culture, and held annual shows under its auspices, and the 

 flower show is now quite the event of the year in the island. The 

 first year the exhibitors had to be satisfied with myself and my 

 gardener (the late Mr. Vallanee) as judges, but since then they 

 have had the advantage of the professional opinion of one of the 

 Messrs. Barr and a member of Mr. Ware's firm as judges'. 



The contrast between the first show and the one held this 

 year was most remarkable. There were over 700 exhibits this 

 year, and they were so good that, on the advice of a friend, I 

 ventured to send the prize flowers and others to her Majesty the 

 Queen, who was graciously pleased to accept them. 



With the export of bulbs we have not been so successful, and 

 up to the present we have been unable to find a good market for 

 the large quantities we should now be in a position to export. I 

 have sent some gratis to the market growers around London, to 

 America, to New Zealand, &c, but so far they do not appear to 

 take. Most of our farmers have studied the way to grow good 

 sound marketable bulbs. Our association has held two or three 

 summer shows of bulbs, and on the last occasion some were 

 produced as sound and as hard as any that ever came out of 

 Holland. It may sometimes happen that we cannot thoroughly 

 ripen the bulbs, owing to a wet season, as was unfortunately the 

 case the year I sent out the largest number (1888) ; this applies 

 equally to bulbs from Holland, and that year Dutch Narcissi 

 were as deficient in power to stand forcing as ours were. But 

 this is more particularly the case with the Polyanthus varieties. 



The very high railway carriage is a great drawback ; they 

 are classified too highly in railway rates. There is no reason why 

 they should pay more than late Potatoes, or any other vegetable 

 not of a very perishable nature, whereas they are charged three 

 times as much. 



The Narcissus fly (Merodon equestris), or rather the grub of 

 the same, has given us a taste of its powers, though I think, if it 

 were likely to become thoroughly acclimatised, we should have 

 had a severer example of- its voracity ere this. It seems to 

 have the most extraordinary proclivity for selecting the most 

 valuable bulbs. I first obtained it in Sulphur Kroon from 

 Holland ; it has since attacked Sir Watkin, Barrii consiricuus, 

 C. J. Backhouse, and Nelsoni major, but very little else. Do 

 Barr's five-shilling bulbs taste sweeter than others, I wonder ? 



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