300 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
appreciation of the Royal Horticultural Society's movement in 
respect to dry bulb cultivation. 
Mr. P. Rudolph Barr said he thought the exhibits of British- 
grown dry bulbs shown in the hall that day afforded a pleasing example 
of the suitability of our British soils and climate for producing crops 
of many kinds which up to now we have been importing in such large 
numbers from abroad. The recent prohibition of imports of foreign 
bulbs caught us unawares, and in consequence there were some 
varieties, such as Early Single and Double Tulips, which would be 
very scarce this season, while of Hyacinths, Crocuses, and Scilla 
sibirica, to name a few other popular kinds, there were few or none 
in the country. Had growers known last autumn the intentions of 
the Government they could have arranged their plantings and have 
secured an abundance of these special bulbs. He was convinced that 
if the large bulb-growers in this country, especially those in the Eastern 
Counties, would devote themselves a little more to producing the kind 
of bulb required by the retail bulb merchant for his customers, they 
would find it a profitable industry. At present cultivation was 
carried on principally for the purpose of providing cut flowers for the 
market. To provide a bulb required by the public, and such as could 
compare favourably with a foreign-grown bulb, necessitated a some- 
what different method of cultivation. 
" Let me," said Mr. Barr, " briefly state the qualities of a bulb 
required by the retail merchant : (i) It must be true to name and 
description. (2) It must contain a strong flower-bud. (3) It should 
have a clean, healthy skin. (4) It should be properly graded, i.e., 
the bulbs should be of even size." 
Mr. Barr remarked on some of the principal bulbs which can be 
successfully grown in the United Kingdom. 
" Daffodils," he said, " we might justly claim as being English 
flowers. The best-known varieties which fill the florists' shops in 
spring were raised by English hybridizers; 'Emperor,' 'Empress,' 
' Horsfieldii, ' and ' Barrii conspicuus ' were household names. They 
were now very largely cultivated abroad, but nevertheless the British 
supplies are very great and are grown all over the country. He 
remembered that in the year 1883 the whole stock of ' Barrii 
conspicuus ' consisted of one bed at his firm's Tooting Nurseries, and 
the price of this variety was then 25s. a dozen. He supposed there 
must be millions now spread over Great Britain, while the price has 
come down to 30s. a thousand. 
" The cultivation of Tulips in Great Britain is also becoming 
a great industry, especially of the May -flowering ' Darwin ' and the so- 
called ' Cottage ' Tulips. Vast areas of these in bloom in May may 
be seen in the West and East of England, while in Ireland they are 
grown very successfully. It is, however, mainly for the cut bloom at 
present that these bulbs are grown here. When the cultivation is for 
producing suitable bulbs for sale to the bulb merchant the flowers 
should be nipped off with only about an inch of stem, the produce of 
