CULTIVATION OF THE NARCISSUS IN GARDENS. 
45 
simRhine is calculated to act very injuriously upon the bulb. I should 
like to know the opinion of others on this point. But the objection of 
inconvenience does not seem to justify carelessness in this matter if, as I 
believe, the bulbs may suffer injury by such carelessness. The bulbs 
after being lifted should be spread out to dry in some cool airy place ; and 
in storing them away after drying until replanting begins I always keep 
mine spread out in shallow trays, not heaped up one upon another. 
Trouble and labour expended on such details will bring their own reward 
in the general excellence of your stock. 
As to Enemies and Diseases. — The Narcissus grower has not many 
enemies or plant diseases to contend with. Mice and birds leave the 
bulbs and flowers severely alone on account of their poisonous character. 
The Narcissits fly is a deadly pest in some countries, but, I believe, does 
comparatively little injury in most parts of England. My Lincolnshire 
garden is entirely free from it : it cannot stand our cold winters. Black 
canlcc7', which occasionally shows itself in the leaves, need not, so far as 
my experience goes, cause anxiety : it has not done me any serious 
injury even among the few kinds in which it has occasionally appeared. 
Basal rot is the chief cause of loss, but where the general health of the 
stock is kept good by adhering to sound rules of cultivation the percentage 
of loss, except in the case of a few delicate varieties, is not great. 
.4s to forming a Collection. — It is by no means an easy task out of the 
almost endless varieties now in cultivation to make a good selection, and 
the beginner certainly needs guidance. 
(1) Regard should be had to the relative time of flowering of the different 
kinds, so as to secure a long flowering season ; (2) the collection should 
be representative of all the more beautiful classes ; (3) where several 
varieties which flower together are rather similar the inferior should be 
dispensed with ; (4) a first-rate collection should have a considerable pro- 
portion of the beautiful white and sulphur Daffodils, and of the white 
Leedsii Narcissi, and also a good number of the red-cupped varieties. All 
this cannot be effected at once without considerable expense and without 
considerable knowledge. But with well chosen lists to select from it may 
be accomplished gradually, and the expense kept within reasonable 
limits. 
It is a great but very common mistake to spend money in buying 
poor varieties because they are cheap. Good things take no more space 
and give, as a rule, no more trouble than poor ones ; and with the 
Narcissus, as with most other things, " the best are the cheapest " in the 
long run. And although many of the best are costly, some most excellent 
kinds may be bought at a very reasonable price. I would suggest that 
about half the initial outlay should be invested in varieties which are 
both cheap and, at the same time, of high quality : these will at once 
give a good supply of fine flowers, the other half to be spent in a smaller 
number of the more expensive kinds. These latter will gradually increase 
and build up a fine collection. Begin chiefly with the vigorous sorts, and 
as you gain experience in cultivation add the more delicate and uncertain 
varieties. 
With a view to assisting beginners in this process, I have prepared 
five short lists which contain among them under difl'erent heads most of 
