September  18,  1902.  JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
261 
Commercial  Bulb  Culture. 
The  development  of  commercial  bulb  culture  in  the 
United  Kingdom  has  received  an  enormous  impetus  during 
the  past  forty  years,  and  especially  during  the  last  half  of 
that  period.  During  the  first  decade  of  the  last  half  of  the 
last  century  bulb  culture  was  carried  on  in  this  country  on 
a  very  restricted  scale.  Lincolnshire  and  Cambridgeshire 
supplied  large  quantities  of  yellow  Crocuses  and  double 
Snowdrops.  Many  of  the  Surrey,  Middlesex,  and  Kent 
market  gardeners,  who  grew  the  common  double  Daffodil 
for  bunching  for  market,  would  dispose  of  their  surplus 
bulbs  to  some  of  the  London  wholesale  seed  houses.  Ixias 
and  Sparaxes  were  ob¬ 
tained  from  Guernsey,  but 
the  great  bulk  of  the  bulbs 
sold  in  this  country  were 
obtained  from  Holland, 
France,  and  elsewhere. 
Since  then  a  huge  indus¬ 
try  in  the  form  of  bulb  cul¬ 
ture  has  grown  up  in  this 
country,  consequent  upon 
the  popularising  of  the  Daf¬ 
fodil.  A  very  important 
step  in  this  direction  was 
taken  when,  some  thirty 
years  or  so  ago,  Mr.  J.  G. 
Baker  classified  the  then  ex¬ 
isting  varieties  of  Daffodils 
by  dividing  them  into  three 
main  sections — the  magni- 
coronati,  the  medio-coro- 
nati,  and  the  parvi-coro- 
nati.  Mr.  Barr  was  exhi¬ 
biting  the  best  varieties 
then  in  cultivation,  and 
chief  among  the  first-named 
section  were  Emperor,  Em¬ 
press,  and  Ilorsfieldi.  He 
also  hunted  up  hitherto  un¬ 
known  varieties.  He  fired 
many  with  a  desire  to  culti¬ 
vate,  and  some  he  prevailed 
upon  to  attempt  the  task  of 
adding  to  the'  then  known 
varieties  by  means  of  cross- 
fertilisation.  On  May  2, 
1877,  Mr.  Peter  Barr  exhi¬ 
bited  at  an  exhibition  held 
by  the  Royal  Horticultural 
Society  at  South  Kensing¬ 
ton  (which  her  late  Majesty 
Queen  Victoria  opened)  a 
collection  of  Daffodils,  to 
which  the  Large  Silver  Gilt 
medal  of  the  Society  was 
awarded.  This  venture  had 
the  effect  of  drawing  public 
attention  to  the  beauty  of 
the  flower,  and  some  far- 
seeing  men  to  its  value  for 
commercial  purposes.  One 
result  was  to  enhance  the 
usefulness  of  the  Daffodil 
for  decorative  purposes,  Iris  Buckarica. 
and  the  acknowledged 
utility  of  the  flower  in  this 
direction  induced  many  to  cultivate  for  this  purpose,  and 
also  to  supply  bulbs  for  sale  in  a  dry  state. 
The  huge  industry  which  has  sprung  up  in  the  Scilly 
Islands  is  well  known,  and  in  spring  tons  upon  tons  of  cut 
.blooms  are  sent  from  thence  to  London  and  other  parts, 
Avhich  become  distributed  throughout  the  country.  From 
the  South  of  France  and  along  the  shores  of  the  Mediter¬ 
ranean,  and  from  other  som-ces  abroad,  come  enormous 
quantities  of  bloom,  and  of  some  varieties  which  cannot  be 
so  successfully  cultivated  in  the  more  temperate  climate 
of  the  United  Kingdom. 
Bulb  farms,  some  of  them  on  an  extensive  scale,  have 
been  formed  in  different  parts  of  the  country,  at  Spalding 
in  Lincolnshire,  and  at  Wisbech  in  Cambridgeshire,  in  par¬ 
ticular.  I  am  by  no  means  to  be  understood  as  stating  that 
these  two  counties  have  a  monopoly  of  Daffodil  culture, 
but  Spalding  has  certainly  become  a  great  centre  of  the  bulb 
industry.  The  Daffodil  appears  to  be  more  suited  to  our 
English  soil  than  any  other  popular  spring  flowering  bulb, 
as  it  will  do  well  in  any  good  loam,  even  if  somewhat 
heavy. 
The  Hyacinth,  the  Tulip,  with  the  Crocus,  needs,  in 
order  to  bring  the  bulbs  to  perfection,  a  lighter  and  more 
sandy  soil  than  the  Daffodil,  and  that  is  the  main  reason 
why  we  depend  so  much  upon  Holland  for  a  supply  of  these 
subjects,  but  look  at  home  for  our  Daffodils.  In  Ireland, 
on  the  sandy  shores  of  the  Bay  of  Dublin,  and  elsewhere, 
Messrs.  Hogg  and  Robertson  cultivate  Tulips  with  great 
succes0,  as  shown  by  a  field  of  their  Keizerskroon  on 
page  268.  At  Cork  Mr.  W. 
Baylor  Hartland  grows  Daffo¬ 
dils  to  a  considerable  extent, 
while  at  Lismore,  Co.  Cork, 
on  the  banks  of  the  Black- 
water,  Miss  F.  Curry  has  built 
up  an  interesting  Daffodil  in¬ 
dustry,  and  furnishes  to  Daf¬ 
fodil  exhibitions  flowers  of 
very  fine  quality.  If  the  cul¬ 
tivation  of  the  Hyacinth,  the 
Tulip,  and  the  Crocus  is  to 
become  a  national  industry, 
then  I  think  Ireland  may  fur¬ 
nish  the  most  suitable  locali¬ 
ties  for  its  prosecution. 
At  Spalding  and  Wisbech  in 
particular  the  Daffodil,  as 
already  stated,  is  most  exten¬ 
sively  cultivated,  and  it  is 
possible  to  see  in  the  season 
beds  of  two  hundred  and 
three  hundred  thousand  of  a 
single  variety.  Those  who 
send  cut  flowers  to  market 
gather  them  when  a  little 
more  than  half  open ;  they 
are  then  taken  into  a  house 
heated  at  a  high  temperature, 
in  which  the  flowers  become 
fully  expanded  while  perfectly 
pure,  which  they  would  not 
be  if  fully  exposed  to  the  ele¬ 
ments  in  the  open.  They 
are  then  removed  to  the  open 
air  and  stood  in  vessels  of 
water  to  stiffen  the  petals,- 
and  the  blooms  are  then 
bunched  and  packed  for 
market.  There  may  be  modi¬ 
fications  of  this  practice  as  a 
result  of  the  teaching  of  ex¬ 
perience,  but  generally  the 
procedure  followed-is  that  set 
forth.  The  flowering  bulbs  are 
lifted  in;  Julv.  or  as  soon  as 
ready,  sorted,  and  stored  for 
sale.  The  strong  bulbs  are 
planted  in  September,  or 
about  that  time,  in  well  pre¬ 
pared  beds ;  the  offsets 
planted  in  nursery  beds, 
(See  page  260.)  where  they  remain  for  two  or 
three  years,  until  they  have 
grown  into  flowering  size. 
(See  Messrs.  Bath’s  illustration  on  page  275.) 
Those  who  grow  for  cut  bloom  find  certain  varieties  best 
suited  for  the  purpose,  and  grow  them,  as  already  indi¬ 
cated,  in  large  quantities.  But  such  find  it  necessary  to 
add  new  varieties  to  their  lists  from  time  to  time.  Those 
who  cultivate  bulbs  for  sale  must,  of  course,  keep  their 
collections  up  to  date  by  adding  expensive  varieties,  in 
order  to  be  able  to  compete  at  Daffodil  exhibitions,  or  ex¬ 
hibit  collections  of  the  leading  varieties,  as  well  as  supply 
orders  when  sufficient  stock  is  available.  New  varieties 
come  from  distinct  crosses.  The  Rev.  G.  H.  Engleheart  is 
the  premier  raiser  of  the  day.  Some  are  imported  ;  others 
are  found  m  gardens,  and  of  late  years  collections  have 
had  important  additions  made  to  them  from  such  sources. 
Time  was  when  the  Anemone  and  the  Ranunculus,  though 
