DAFFODILS — A Report 
Since this is the twenty-fifth catalog that I have 
prepared for the Oregon Bulb Farms, I should like 
to look backwards for a minute to those early days 
in Holland, almost forty years ago, when I first 
began to take an interest in hybrid daffodils. My 
memory goes back to days when varieties like Red 
Beacon and Sir Edward Carson were among the 
novelties and Lucifer, Whitewell and Mrs. Langtry 
among the more popular garden plants. From those 
days to the present an enormous change has taken 
place in the assortment offered, much greater than 
a year-by-year survey might indicate. 
Has the improvement slowed up in recent years? 
I believe so. What we are striving for now is refine- 
ment in form, color and even more so in hardiness, 
vigor and productivity. Our American gardening 
public is still not as sophisticated in its taste as its 
British counterpart. For most of our gardeners the 
biggest and boldest daffodil is still the major attrac- 
tion. For those of us who love the daffodil as a show 
flower this has been a handicap and a deterrent to 
great activity in breeding for better plants. That we 
have engaged on this long-term project at all is sim- 
ply due to our innate love for these flowers and to a 
desire to continue at least some of the work I started 
so long ago in Holland. 
Last year I felt emboldened to list a scant hun- 
dred of our own seedlings, named, classified and 
priced. This year I have cut down the list to seventy- 
five and I have attempted to give each of them a 
brief description. No words, however, can ade- 
quately describe these novelties. Their charm is not 
in size, nor perhaps in form, but in their exquisite 
informality and coloring. Some of them, to be sure, 
are of giant size — bigger than any I have seen 
abroad. A few others are best characterized as Brit- 
ish Show Daffodils — good enough to hold their 
own, I think, but no better than what others may 
well have raised already. There is a third category 
— daffodils which I have selected for my own gar- 
den, for our rock garden and for low bowls and 
vases. It is a personal selection and the readers who 
are interested will just have to scan the descriptive 
pages of this catalog to find them. Better yet, those 
of you who love daffodils, should plan a visit to our 
farms during the first two weeks of April. 
In last year’s “Report on Daffodils” I mentioned 
that the prices I asked for many of these novelties 
were based on taste, rate of increase, intensity of 
coloring, proportion and on intangibles. After one 
more flowering season, we have had a chance to re- 
consider some of those factors and the patient reader 
will find a number of price corrections, as compared 
to last year, that will bring some of these daffodils 
more in line with other introductions quoted from 
abroad. 
As to our other stocks of daffodils, those commer- 
cial varieties that are the “bread and butter” of this 
industry, we have planted back a finer stock than 
ever before. Again in 1952, as we have done in all 
previous years, we sold out completely on all good 
stock. We feel very confident that this year also the 
demand for our clean, vigorous, selected and accli- 
mated stock will surpass the supply and we sin- 
cerely urge you to place your orders as early as 
you can. 
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