DAFFODIL CONFERENCE AND EXHIBITION. 



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varieties, viz., N. montanus major polyanthos albus, and N. 

 montanus polyanthos minor. We are strengthened in this sup- 

 position because Thunberg, in his ° Flora japonica " (1784), men- 

 tions the double form too, and tells us that this plant grows 

 in a wild state on mountains and other places near Nagasaki, 

 being cultivated also and flowering in January and February. 

 We do not consider the introduction of this plant of any real 

 value, but the way in which it seems to be cultivated in China, 

 and which was recommended by the introducers, deserves great 

 attention. The bulbs are simply placed in a bowl of water 

 mixed with stones to prevent them from floating. The water 

 should, of course, be changed frequently ; it is recommended to 

 do so every twenty-four hours. We have tried this method and 

 produced fine flowering plants within four weeks after putting 

 the bulbs in the bowls, which were kept in a forcing-house. 

 Bulbs planted in the ordinary manner in pots take longer to 

 come into bloom. We have also experimented in this way with 

 other sorts of Polyanthus Narcissi, and with the same good 

 success. The varieties used were the well-known early-flowering 

 totus albus, and the fine Dutch variety, " Queen of the Nether- 

 lands." We are quite sure that a great number of the varieties 

 of N. Tazetta now in cultivation will be able to be forced in 

 this way. It is a very pleasant manner of room decoration to 

 have Narcissus grown in such bowls, and the method is very 

 suitable for growing these flowers for house decoration. We 

 think we may safely recommend amateurs to try this method. 

 We should not like to advise it for very early forcing, nor should 

 the bulbs be put into the bowls earlier than the beginning of 

 December, in order to have flowers of them in January and 

 February, as bulbs at that period generally seem better adapted 

 to strong forcing than they do earlier. 



It may be of interest to mention a curious fact, recently 

 observed, viz., the readiness of Polyanthus Narcissus bulbs to lie 

 dormant, i.e., to miss pushing shoots for some time. At a meet- 

 ing of the Royal Dutch Horticultural and Botanical Society this 

 winter, one of the leading bulb firms of Holland showed a pot 

 with flowering N. Tazetta " Grand Monarque," which looked quite 

 as well as an ordinarily grown plant. The bulbs, it appears, 

 had been lost in one of the warehouses in the autumn of 1888, 

 and remained there in a dry place till the autumn of 1889, when 



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