33G 



JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



flowers ; next year, if they survive and are transplanted, they 

 will probably most of them be semi-double again. 



Daffodils have different constitutions ; those have a good con- 

 stitution which readily adapt themselves to various conditions of 

 climate and soil, and thrive in spite of such changes. As I have 

 remarked by the examples of muticus and moschatus, constitution 

 does not depend upon habitat. Varieties of undeniably good consti- 

 tution are the large garden double, and the single and double type 

 oiincomparabilis, and of newer kinds, Horsfieldii and Sir Watkin. 

 Daffodils have not a good constitution when the English climate 

 does not agree with them. Ard Kigh and princcps seem robust 

 enough in Ireland, but degenerate and die out in many English 

 gardens. Rapidity of increase is quite compatible with a bad 

 constitution, and nothing helps infirm Daffodils so much as 

 frequent transplanting. It does for them what change of air 

 does for mankind. On the subject of cultivation, I shall make 

 only a few casual remarks. No question is more frequently 

 asked than "How often ought Daffodils to be lifted?" This 

 depends on many circumstances, chiefly on the kinds and on the 

 soil. Some kinds in some soils may be left for many years 

 without suffering any deterioration in flowering qualities ; but 

 when flowers become fewer, in proportion to the mass of leaves, 

 transplanting is desirable. They should be dug up before the 

 leaves have quite disappeared, and planted again, from four to 

 eight inches deep, according to size, in August or September ; the 

 soil should be well worked, but the bulbs should not be planted 

 in it whilst loose, as they do much better when it is firm and com- 

 pact, though it must never be pressed together when wet. When 

 out of the ground they should be kept airy, dry, and warm. Many 

 kinds of Narcissus, especially the white trumpets, seem to do 

 better in the mixed borders of a shrubbery, where there is some 

 competition with other roots for the nourishment in the soil, 

 than in beds especially prepared for and exclusively devoted to 

 them. In such beds the soil is often too good, and the bulbs 

 increase too quickly — a frequent source of disease. When this 

 happens they must be frequently moved. I never could succeed 

 in keeping in good health maximus, Ard Righ, double cermcus, 

 and some others until I made it a rule never to leave them un- 

 moved for more than two years. The same soil will not suit all. 

 N. poeticus likes a strong soil, so the hybrids of this species do 



