338 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
May x8, 1907. 
Daffodils 
At . . 
LONG DITTON. 
the temperature of the house, and keep the 
atmosphere moist about the plants by fre¬ 
quently damping around the pots and stag¬ 
ing on which the plants are placed when¬ 
ever the outside conditions are such that the 
interior of the house is likely to become 
quickly dry. This not only applies to fresh 
potted plants, but to those which are estab¬ 
lished. Once we acquire the method of ap¬ 
plying the proper proportions of atmospheric 
moisture we shall find little difficulty in 
supplying the remaining demands. ft is 
useless to lay down rules, for there are so 
many things that have to be taken into con¬ 
sideration before deciding what to do. The 
prevailing state of the weather is perhaps 
one of the first matters to be considered. It 
is far easier to produce stagnant conditions 
in dull weather than it is to even approach 
desirable conditions in extremely hot sum¬ 
mer weather. Situation also has to be taken 
into account. It is all very well for me, 
who lives in a country district, where the 
atmosphere is pure, to tell my readers who 
have to contend with unfavourable condi¬ 
tions that so-and-so must be done. I can 
venture to apply methods which I am cer¬ 
tain would ^e absolute destruction to my 
plants were the situation changed and I was 
placed under the unfavourable conditions 
usually prevailing in the neighbourhood of 
large towns and in smoky manufacturing 
districts. Those who have charge of Or¬ 
chids should acquaint themselves with the 
conditions of the situation, and so be able 
to provide the most suitable methods for 
their successful culture. 
Ventilation. 
There are many who advocate the free use 
of the roof ventilators in the treatment of 
their plants. It is very rarely indeed that 
I myself resort to the use of the roof ven¬ 
tilators at all during the growing season 
of the warm Orchids. In autumn I find 
them useful in aiding the ripening of 
growth. In our cool houses they are never 
used excepting in warm weather, after there 
has been a lot of wet or when there is a 
thick mist prevailing in summer, preferring 
always to use the lower ventilators, the tem¬ 
perature being kept within bounds by 
heavily shading. I consider when the roof 
ventilators are open that the moisture, which 
is the absolute life of the plants, escapes 
from the atmosphere. H. J. Chapman. 
♦♦♦- 
Royal Gardeners’ Orphan Fund. 
The 19th annual dinner of this Fund will 
take place at De Keyser’s Royal Hotel, 
Victoria Embankment, E.C., on Thurs¬ 
day. May 23rd, when the Rt. Hon. The 
Lord Mayor (Sir William P. Treloar) will 
preside. Distressed and helpless children 
to the number of 115 are now receiving 
benefits from the Fund. The secretary 
is Mr. B. Wynne, 30, Wellington Street, 
Covent Garden, London, W.C. 
Windsor, Eton and District Chrysanthe¬ 
mum and Horticultural Society. 
The above society wall hold this year’s 
show of Chrysanthemums, plants, fruit 
and vegetables in the Royal Albert Insti¬ 
tute, Windsor, on Friday, November 8th. 
Among the prizes to be competed for in 
the Chrvsanthemum classes are the King’s 
Challenge Cup, value £ 10, for six vases of 
five blooms; Lady Evelyn Mason’s hand¬ 
some Challenge Cup for 12 incurved 
and 12 Japanese blooms; and the society’s 
run. which last rear, for the second time, 
fell to Sir E. Durning Lawrence (gar¬ 
dener, W. Lane), for a very fine group. 
The schedule of prizes may be obtained 
from the hon. secretary, Mr. G. E. Keer, 
Meadowlea, Datchet. 
v- _ 
The lover of Daffodils will find the time 
well spent if he makes a journey to the 
nurseries of Messrs. Barr and Sons, Long 
Ditton, Surrey, every year some time in 
April. This year the plants are late, and 
we made the journey on the 29th ult., 
when there was a plethora of Daffodils 
m bloom. We were too late, however, 
for the early ones, and too early for the 
late ones. Every year sees the addition 
of a large number of new varieties, 
amongst which are Daffodils of the 
choicest, both for size, colour, and re¬ 
finement. Some are selected for their 
earliness, but, now-a-days, most of them 
are selected for their new and beautiful 
forms, with the addition of colour if pos¬ 
sible. 
The best of the old ones are grown in 
some quantity, but as these are well known 
we took no notes concerning such as 
Emperor, Empress, bicolor, Horsfieldii, 
Barii conspicuus, Duchess of Westmin¬ 
ster, and all that class which are indis¬ 
pensable for bedding purposes. Indeed, 
it is unnecessary to do so, seeing that they 
have been grown by Messrs. Barr from 
the earliest of time, as far as.those varie¬ 
ties are concerned. 
We selected a number of the newer 
varieties representing the long, medium, 
and short crowned Daffodils, and under 
these headings we shall group them to 
save repetition in an attempt to describe 
them. Many of them are so lovely that 
description is bald to delineate the deli¬ 
cacy and beauty of their markings. 
Trumpet Daffodils. 
For some years past most people agreed 
that King Alfred was the king of yellow 
Trumpet Daffodils, and it is still a stately 
and magnificent flower, standing head and 
shoulders above its compeers. There is, 
however, a seedling Daffodil, as yet with¬ 
out name, which promises to beat even 
King Alfred, and more of it will be heard 
in years to come. A beautiful creamy 
Daffodil with a lemon trumpet is Alice 
Knight, the value of which lies in its open¬ 
ing at the same time as Golden Spur. It 
was fading by the time we saw it. The 
great feature of Big Ben is its huge 
golden trumpet, rolled back at the mouth. 
Very choice, also, is Calpurnia, with white 
segments and a yellow trumpet. Cleo¬ 
patra is lemon with a golden trumpet, 
while E. T. Cook is creamy, fading to 
pure white, with a deep yellow, open 
trumpet. A very striking yellow Daffodil 
is George Philip Haydon, with a huge, 
open and fimbriated golden trumpet. 
Lady Audrey is a refined variety, with 
white segments and lemon trumpet. The 
feature of Hon. Mrs. Jocelyn is its long 
yellow segments and deep yellow trum¬ 
pet. 
Lord Roberts has been mentioned m 
our pages in previous vears, and is a noble 
Daffodil, with a deep yellow and wide 
trumpet. Mme. de Graaff still holds an 
honourable position amongst white Trum¬ 
pet Daffodils, but a hundred bulbs can 
now be procured for the same money re¬ 
quired for one some years ago. This 
simply means that it is more plentiful 
now, and no one should go begging for 
a princess amongst Daffodiis that may be 
obtained so reasonably. Mme. Plemp is 
one of the bicolor Daffodils, with white 
segments as broad as those of Emperor. 
Monarch is also a recent acquisition of 
the Emperor type, but much larger and 
richer in colour. Peter Barr is still the 
king of the white Daffodils, and was in 
splendid form on the occasion of our 
visit. It is of the same type as Mme. de 
Graaff, but very much larger. Weardale 
Perfection is another white and yellow 
Daffodil of splendid proportions. 
J. B. M. Camm used to be highly valued 
for exhibition purposes, but is now readily 
obtained for bedding purposes, for which 
it is admirably adapted. Mrs. Walter 
Ware is a bicolor that is also well suited 
for bedding, owing to its freedom of 
flowering and the upright habit of the 
flower stems. A whollv yellow Daffodil 
is Sprightly, about 1 ft. high, and hand¬ 
some for bedding purposes. Queen of 
Spain, as introduced from Spain, is a 
graceful and lovely lemon Daffodil that 
does best on the grass, where it will not 
be disturbed for years. It lasts well in 
the cut state. Hillside Daffodil is remark¬ 
able for the enormous width of the trum¬ 
pet just at the mouth. 
Seedling Daffodils. 
In the frame grounds, and also in one 
of the fields, are numerous Daffodils 
under trial, some of which have been 
named, and others are still under trial, 
to prove their suitability and their capa¬ 
bilities. Very pretty was one named 
Fanny Havdun, with white segments and 
lemon trumpet. Lady Margaret Bos- 
cawen may best be described as a white 
Sir Watkin brought up-to-date in the 
matter of form. Seraphim -is of the Mme. 
de Graaff type, and notable for its ex¬ 
ceptional vigour, the leaves being 2 ft. 
long. Others of this tvpe have a more 
revolute trumpet. Scarlet Pimpernel has 
an orange chalice, and is one of the 
medium-crowned Daffodils. We measured 
another seedling with a trumpet close on 
3 in. across the mouth. Several of these 
new Daffodils we shall presently illustrate, 
so it is unnecessary to describe them at 
present. 
Medium-Crowned Daffodils. 
These may be described as having a 
chalice or cup about half as long as the 
segments. The latter are yellow in the 
varieties classed under N. incomparabilis, 
and white in the forms of N. Leedsii. 
They really represent a series of garden 
varieties or hybrids. A strong grower, 
with a very refined pale lemon chalice, 
is Leedsii Ariadne. Barn Owl has piim- 
rose segments and an open canan 
chalice. Gloria Mundi is a well-known 
bedding varietv. with an orange chalice^ 
Leedsii Peach is a beautifully refined 
