UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
DEPARTMENT BULLETIN No. 1270 
Washington, D. C. 
October 11, 1924 
THE PRODUCTION OF NARCISSUS BULBS 
By David Griffiths, Horticulturist, Office of Horticultural Investigations, 
Bureau of Plant Industry 
CONTENTS 
Page 
Explanation of terms__ 1 
Securing stocks for planting 2 
How bedding and forced bulbs. 
should be handled 4 
Preparation of the bulbs for plant- 
ing 5 
Preparation of the soil 5 
Planting 5 
Time of planting 6 
Autumn treatment of the beds 6 
Cultivation 7 
Mulching 7 
Spring work on the beds 7 
Second year of the biennial crop 8 
Roguing 8 
Disposition of the rogues 8 
Digging 8 
Daffodil and tulip digging compared- 9 
Removing loose soil from the bulbs_ 9 
Storage 10 
Curing 11 
Changes in the bulbs as they dry 11 
Page 
Breaking the bulbs apart 12 
Sizers and sizing 13 
Drainage and soil percolation 14 
Use of lime 15 
Fertilizers in commercial culture 15 
Daffodils a biennial crop 16 
Culture for cut flowers. 16 
Harvesting flowers 17 
Removing the faded flowers 17 
Appearance of the flower spike 17 
Difference in cost of varieties 18 
Special items 18 
Enemies 23 
Where narcissus bulbs are grown 24 
Relative use of varieties 25 
Breeding daffodils 25 
Naturalizing varieties 26 
Yieldsi 26 
Conditions of daffodil culture 28 
Narcissus varieties and their classi- 
fication 29 
Recommendations 30 
EXPLANATION OF TERMS 
The plants discussed in this bulletin belong to the botanical genus 
Narcissus which forms a considerable section of the Amaryllis fam- 
ily. The name was applied by the Swedish botanist, Linnaeus, after 
the mythological Greek youth who was transformed into* the flower. 
The common names of the genus are two in number: (1) The 
generic name (narcissus) unchanged and (2) daffodil. Both of 
these are coextensive with the generic name. Although the latter 
had formerly a more restricted meaning, it has now come to mean, 
in the more authoritative writings, the genus Xarcissus. In this bul- 
letin the endeavor has been made to conform to this usage. " Jon- 
quil " is a term properly applied to the natural species Narcissus 
jonquilla and its derivatives. They are the rush-leaved members of 
the genus. 
- 94685°— 24— 1 
