NARCISSI AND THEIR CULTIVATION

Shannon News, 25 September 1923, Page 3

NARCISSI AND THEIR CULTIVATION

ADDRESS BY,’ MR A. J, SHAILER

A most, interesting and instructive address, under- the auspices of-, the Foxton Horticultural Society and given in connection with, the Foxton show. was. delivered l>y Mr A. J. Shaker,' F.R.H.S. ... “In dealing with, his subject,V saidMr Shailer;- ‘I should like first of- all to refer; to the old adage ‘Narcissi will grow anywhere:’. For at least twenty.

years you have,; probably found the same old instructions for the cultivation of these beautiful spring flowers and the conclusions that one would naturally come do are :—(1) They mast be easily grown- (2) Horticulture lias made very little; progress with these flowers; and (3) the specialists are' keeping their knowledge a close secret.

I will give you, in the light of my own careful and close study, the correct method of successfully growing narcissi for show blooms.

Site for bulbs.—l would advise that all bulbs for show purposes be planted, if possible, in-' the south-west corner, with shelter-from the south newest winds,-which, usually prevail in this district. Preparation of Beds should be sft wide (so that they can be hoed and weeded without treading on, the plants) and -as long as it is -thought necessary. Take two sound 6xl boards each a,s long as 'the bed, and -two fi x f, sffc long for ends of beds. Place these in position on the ordinary level of the ground. Next remove the (top -seven, inches of soil, and bank it. up outside the board frame. To the. sunken, surface give a dressing as follows: lib lresb lime, Boz. soot, 4oz bone.dust per square yard. With a good spade thoroughly dig this into the bed,, breaking up the- soil well. Now. j make the sunken surface level and'next, if possible, obtain from cow pasture land, enougfn. good turf to make a double layer of' turf, placed upside-down. This will raise the bed six inches above ' the surrounding level, thus' ensuring . a perfect drainage. The bed sliould be prepared about the end >of the present month and a crop of cabbage or other plants for transplanting before January -may be sown. This will help to germinate weed seed in the soil. In January give a dressing of lime (4oz. to the square yard) and lightly fork over. Rake the. .surface level and proceed to plant as follows: Beasure your first row, nine inches from the end of the bed, and then -mark your rows 15 inches apart for each succeeding row. Allow four inches between each bulb in the row.

Depth to' plant 'bulbs in—The safest m,ethod is to plant the bulbs according to size- and variety for strong growing trumpet, Incoinpar-a-bles, Barrii, and Leedsh. Set the neck of t'he math three to four inches below. II m doubt, be on the deep side, as this ensures <a more! even temperature, and will . -enable you to hoe over the whole, bed. during December, January and February; without- any fear of cutting the bulbs.

Getting , blooms fm -shows.—There is no sate method of retarding a bloom, which may be too early for a certain date, but a bed Avhich. is backward may be safely forced a good deal, by an application of nitrate Of ■pda {loz. toi a gallon of water four weeks before sffinv day)' and again, ' if still backward two Aveeks later, alway's remembering that by a, liberaluse of lime in the making of the bed, you are safe in using nitrate of soda, the one being’ acid and the other anti acid!. , ' ,

Picking versus, pulling . blooms.—l have seen some .growers pull the blooms or flower stalks to obtain. a larger stem but in my opinion this }s Avrong for the following reason: A bloom pulled leaves a hole right down to the base of the bulb, thus making an easy method of 'entrance for the worst enemies of the narcissi, viz., eelAvorm 'and bulb mite, therefore the blooms should be. picked at ground level.

Time to pick blooms before a show. —I have lou-nd that by leaving the trumpets to develop on the plant they grow much larger end . I would advise that they be given a suitable covering and left till tbe day before the show. This applies to most other varieties except red cups. These with a few exceptions, are rubied for show purposes by a couple of hour s of sun on them. Therefore I would, advise you to pick your red cups when they begin to; open and to leave them in jars ih a cool place to develop-, changing the water every day. - When the show is over.—Do not on .any account remove the foliage from your bulbs after the flowers are done. The bulbs keep on growing for.about eleven weks and during this time the growth, for next year .is being’prepared in embryo, and as the leaves are the recognised lungs of the plant, they are very essential to ensure good blooms next season. So do riot attempt to remove the old growth until it has separated from the bulb. If the bed ha s been prepared as directed the bulbs may remain down for three years without >any further trouble, and the best blooms will be obtained the second and third yeafi, after which the bulbs will have so increased that they must be lifted for division., As each variety is lilted the bulbs should be placed in a. sieve and the. highpressure hose, turned on them until all soil and decayed scales are removed, when they should he placed; in a- cool place till planting time. Next .season prepare a new bed and proceed as before.

Re bulb disease.—Eel worm. The latest, and worst pest- that has attacked the daffodil' is certainly the stein eelworm which did an enormous amount of damage before it was discovered as the cause of wholesale destruction of many' stocks of daffodil bulbs. It was most unfortunate for the growers in this Dominioh that it was not known earlier, as quantities of bulbs were sent here that contained eelworm, and most of the gardens in the Dominion where imported bulbs.were planted became ■ infested with this nest. Tt was nob until 1917 after the Royal -Horticultural Society made a research into the cause of the

disease in daffodils, that the eelworm was found to be the .almost entire* cause; of daffodil losses, and a cure rvas recommended later, viz., to soak, the bulb in water at a temperature of 110 to. 115 degrees F. for about three hours, which, quite killed the eel-* v T orms in the bulbs "without any noticeable liarih to the bulb itself.. _ Rut thi§ leaves the question 'of 1 sterilising the soil of eelworm an open question. On different lines a Mr Jardine experimented with a solution of bichloride of mercury,- one part to 3000 parts of water’, in conjunction with nitrate of soda, J ounce to each 'gallon of water. Very satisfactory results were obtained and he recommended it as a cure.”-