DAFFODIL CONFERENCE AND EXHIBITION. 



339 



ON POLYANTHUS NARCISSI. 



By J. H. Keelage. 



A study of the horticultural treatises of the last century 

 reveals to us the various flowers which have from time to time 

 reigned as first favourites in cultivation, and among these bulbous 

 plants are always placed in the first rank. Thus James Maddock, 

 in his " Florists' Directory" (1792), places the flowers as follows: 

 Hyacinths, Tulips, Ranunculuses, Anemones, Auricula, Carna- 

 tions, Pinks ; while in the " Traite "- of the Dutch florists 

 Nicolas van Kampen & Son (1760) it is said : " After Hyacinths, 

 Tulips, Ranunculuses, and Anemones, the next flower which 

 merits our attention is the Polyanthus Narcissus." So that already 

 more than a hundred years ago these flowers occupied a very 

 prominent position in Continental gardens, though less attention 

 seems to have been paid to them in England. At least Philip 

 Miller, in his " Gardening Dictionary " (1735),* mentions that the 

 florists of Holland, Flanders, and France had taken great pains 

 in cultivating and improving them, while he does not say any- 

 thing about English gardening in this matter. " The reason of 

 this," says James Justice in his " British Gardener's Director" 

 (Edinburgh, 1764), " is that the raising Narcissi from seeds is so 

 prolix that it is not worth the trouble, pains, and necessary at- 

 tendance and expense of a nurseryman." It is well known that 

 by far the greater number of the varieties of Polyanthus Narcis- 

 sus were raised in Holland, and so it seems that the Dutch had 

 in this matter more patience, skill, and perspicuity. And so it 

 comes to pass that the Polyanthus Narcissus was from the first, 

 and is still, rightly considered to be a Dutch plant ; and it is this 

 circumstance, I suppose, which led the Council of the Royal 

 Horticultural Society to invite a Dutch florist to treat of this 

 subject. And although there are some specialists among my 

 countrymen to whom this task would have been more familiar, 

 I will nevertheless try to say something about this favourite 

 Narcissus of Holland. My communication, however, must neces- 

 sarily be somewhat superficial, for even if I had the leisure 

 (which I have not) to make a profound study of this group of 

 * 7th edition of 1760. 



