July 31, 1884, ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
93 
and are being grown more extensively year by year. I think the 
reason why there are not more exhibitors is that ordinary culti¬ 
vators hesitate to stage their blooms because they do not under¬ 
stand how to dress them ; and it cannot be expected they will 
enter the lists if there is the slightest suspicion that the assist¬ 
ance of experts, however good their motive, is given to their 
friends in the smaller classes. 
With the object of widening the interest in the shows of the 
Society in question, and of encouraging the extended cultivation 
of Carnations and Pico tees, would it not be well to offer prizes 
for undressed flowers of Carnations grown in borders ? Prizes 
for, say, the best stand of six or twelve white and scarlet Cloves 
and rose-coloured Carnations, also for stands of flaked varieties 
and bizarres, could scarcely fail to meet with a response, and the 
wonder would be great indeed if the prizewinners in these classes 
remained satisfied with these productions. It is practically 
certain they would be induced to aim higher and attempt to 
pi’oduce more refined and perfectly finished flowers. High-class 
florists cannot be made in a season. Ordinary cultivators, yet 
great admirers of the flowers under notice, need some inducements 
to enter on somewhat equal terms with each other. They must 
see a^ chance of some kind of winning a prize, or at least of 
avoiding feeling humiliated by the great disparity of their humble 
products with those of the highly skilled cultivators and experi¬ 
enced exhibitors. Splendid blooms can be grown in beds, and 
some of them need little or no dressing; but so long as the 
feeling exists that only flowers produced by plants in pots and 
delicately dressed are fit to stage, so long will exhibitors be few. 
O pen th; portals^ wider and invite the tyros in, and the proba¬ 
bility is that exhibitors will be more numerous and tyros become 
fewer, because they will naturally grow into expert florists. 
These thoughts are humbly submitted to the attention of those 
officials of the Society mentioned, who ai’e so commendably en¬ 
gaged in promoting the improved culture of the most beautiful 
and sweet flowers of our gardens. 
The Journal has of late been rich in appliances. Poster’s 
Rose-holder, Ward’s Grape-troughs, and Bennett’s ligatures 
being eminently worthy of the prominence that has been given 
to them. ^ All alike appear to possess the virtue of simplicity 
with efficiency, and as it is reasonable to suppose they will not 
be offered at prohibitiv^e prices, they can scai’cely fail to be tried 
by many who require articles of this kind in their practice. 
I OFTEN think there is more in a small article a few inches 
long than in an elaborate paper of two or three columns. The 
very suggestive and useful note on page G6 on the brilliant but 
often disappointing A. K. Williams Rose in a case in point. 
“One Who Knows ’ has done good service in communicating 
his experience, and those who have so far failed, as many have 
undoubtedly done, to grow this fine Rose to their satisfaction 
will do well to try plants in the “ dormant bud.” There will not 
be much for the money, but it will be far more satisfactory to 
see the dormant bud break boldly and grow strongly, eventually 
producing magnificent blooms, than to watch larger plants, 
because a year older, dwindle away as many have done during the 
past two years. 
Mr. Bardney tells us how to stop decay in Melons, and the 
method is simple enough—namely, raising the temperature 5° at 
night; but 1 cannot help thinking if he had stated the tempera¬ 
ture of his house before he applied the remedy—the danger 
temperature of a damp house—that his note would have been 
just a little more complete and possibly a trifle more serviceable 
to some of the readers he commendably hopes to assist. I wonder 
what he thinks about the matter, but perhaps shall not have to 
wonder long, and perhaps also I may merit a rebuke for my 
obtuseness and temerity. Time will tell.— A Thinker. 
NARCISSUS BICOLOR HORSEFIELDIL 
(THE KING OP DAFFODILS.) 
Considerable discussion has lately taken place in the Manchextrr 
City News concerniDg the origin of this handsome Daffodil, and as it is 
one of the most generally appreciated of the varieties grown at the 
present time the following extracts from letters upon the subject will 
doubtless be of interest to many readers. 
Referring to a previous communication from Mr. Broome of Didsbury, 
Mr. Brockbank gives the following remarks “ Mr. F. J. Broome states 
that it was James Percival, sen., who honoured Horsefield by naming the 
bulb, and presented him with the copper kettle about 1851. This sentence 
contains many errors. The facts are as follows Until 1854 Horsefield 
retained the stock of bulbs of his Daffodil, and they were not dispersed 
until after his decease in that year, when they were sold for the benefit of 
his widow. This was the ‘ letting out ’ to which I referred. There were 
twenty-eight blooming or full-sized bulb?, and nine small ones. The 
former were all sold at H. Gd. each, and 8.?. were given for the lot of 
small bulbs. These thirty-seven bulbs were all the produce up to 
Horsefield’s death, and according to the rate of increase in Daffodil bulbs 
they would represent the growths of about eight years; according to 
which calculation the first flower might have been produced in 1847. 
“ The ‘ letting out’ was attended by many florists, for the fame of the 
Horsefieldii Daffodil had spread far and wide. Amongst those present 
was John Duckworth, landlord of the ‘ Swan Inn ’ at Pilkington, and it 
was he who offered a copper kettle to be competed for the season fol¬ 
lowing. It was then arranged that a Narcissus Show should be held on 
that occasion. The Show was held the following spring at the ‘ Swan,’ 
and it is interesting to note that there were twenty-three varieties of the 
Narcissus exhibited. The winner of the copper kettle was Joseph Allen, 
flrist, the present landlord of the ‘ Eagle and Child’ at Whitefield, where 
the Botanical Society’s meetings are now held, and the custodian of their 
interesting library. He was a purchaser of three bulbs at the letting- 
out, and afterwards he bought the nine small bulbs from the widow. 
Mr. Duckworth presented the copper kettle accordingly, but this was the 
only occasion upon which the prize was given, and the only Narcissus 
Show that was held.” 
Mr. James Percival, Smithy Bridge, Rochdale, replying to these 
statements gives the following history, which is undoubtedly correct:— 
“ I may state that I have seen James Horsefield, the only living son of 
the late John Horsefield, and he quite verified my remarks as given by 
Mr. Burbidge at the late Narcissus Conference held in London in April 
last. 
“ I cannot see how Mr. Brockbank conceives the idea of robbing Mr. 
Horsefield of all the merit in raising this fine seedling Daffodil, for had 
it not been for the fine pod of seed which he detected in his garden, 
sowing it and watching it with the greatest anxiety for the result, we 
should not have had any Narcissus Horsefieldii now. But of the batch 
of seedlings there were two other forms, one of them something like a 
Narcissus major, another something like the form called N. princeps. I 
told Mr. Brockbank, when I saw him in March last, that these forms were 
thrown away because they were poor varieties, and certainly they are so, 
even compared with the old Narcissus bicolor; but I may say now that 
the two varieties are still in existence, and that I am in possession of 
them both. I should like to know what the fine forms of the wild 
Daffodil were, finer than the N. bicolor previous to the advent of the 
variety Horsefieldii, either in gardens or the Mersey Meadows or else¬ 
where. Are the Lent Lilies of the Mersey Meadows finer than elsewhere ? 
Granted they are so, then the question arises. What insect could find out 
this particular fine form of Daffodil to fertilise this particular flower in 
this garden to bring forth that noble seed vessel, to produce that noble 
flower Narcissus bicolor Horsefieldii ? Let me tell Mr. Brockbank that 
Horsefield was fully alive as to the objects to be gained by cross-fertilisa¬ 
tion. Previous to raising this Daffodil he raised a Tigridia (the Tiger 
Flower), named Tigridia conchiflora var. Watkinsonii, which he sold to 
T. D. Watkinson for £10. It is figured in Paxton’s ‘ Botanical Magazine ’ 
about 1850, and was fertilised by pollen from T. pavonia. 
“ I may tell Mr. Brockbank that it was I that named the Narcissus, 
at the request of Mrs. Horsefield, at the letting-out. There were two 
Narcissus Shows, and I was one of the judges at both Shows. The kettle 
referred to as being given was not offered, as Mr. Brockbank states, by 
Mr. Duckworth, but by a Joseph or Joe Allen—not the same Allen who 
won the kettle.” 
ROSE WILLIAM ALLEN RICtlARDSON. 
Permit me to supplement the remarks of “ S. W.” at page 34 with 
respect to the above Rose. It is a delightful Rose, especially in the bud 
state. In size it is almost identical with the Tea Madarne Falcot. The 
colour is deep rich orange yellow, a shade quite new and distinct, the margins 
of the petals shading off to sulphur-white. This shows to good advantage 
the richness of the predominant colour. Having recently handled some 
hundreds of its buds for buttonhole use, I have noticed many which have 
scarcely a shade of that rich colour which so marks the original plant. 
This, I am informed, is due to the age of the plants, and that many of 
the flowers produced from one-year-old plants often come colourless, but 
two-year-old and upwards always attain that richness of colour which is 
fast making it famous—in short, it is one of those charming varieties 
which attract admiration from all who see it.—E. Jenkins. 
ROOT-BOUND CHRYSANTHEMUMS—CULTURE. 
When we have opposite extremes in the cultivation of any par¬ 
ticular class of plants, we may generally take the happy medium 
with a fair chance of being on the right road. It is not very often 
such examples of Chrysanthemum-growing as those of the corre¬ 
spondents to the Journal in the recent issues are brought into notice. 
Mr. Murphy commences by praising “ an excellent man in his pro¬ 
fession,” and, referring to his Chrysanthemums, remarks, “ Those 
are already root-bound ; the roots have reached the edge of the pots. 
Does Mr. Murphy or his friend really mean to call a Chrysanthemum 
root-bound because the roots have reached the edge of the pots . 
If, as “R. P. B.” surmises, and which I am inclined to think is the 
