A BRITISH BULB INDUSTRY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 125, 28 May 1932, Page 6 (Supplement)

A BRITISH BULB INDUSTRY.

Writing in a recent issue of the "Western Morning News" on the subject of West Country bulbs, Mr. H. W. Abbiss, horticultural superintendent, Cornwall County Council, remarked:— There is a good deal of talk at the present time about establishing a British bulb industry. The obstacles seem to be a lack of organisation, coupled with the fact that very few home-grown stocks are absolutely true to name, that is, they contain too many "rogues," whilst other problems enter into this question, euch as graded planting and yearly lifting. I only propose to deal with the question of rogues. A lot of stones have been thrown at Cornish and Scillonian growers about their mixed stocks. lam willing to admit that many stocks are not true enough to market unless they arc vigorously culled or rogued. There are excellent stocks in the Duchy, and further, the West Countryman is not the only offender. Some of the most disease-ridden and mixed stocks I have seen have come from the larger lirme, who are only too willing to hold up the smaller West Country growers as the worst offenders. Nevertheless we

must bo up and doing; there is no time liko the present for tackling this problem; that is, when tho rogues can be spotted. The flowering period ie undoubtedly the best and the direct method of digging tho rogues is even better than marking them, or leaving the flowers unpicked on the bulbs to be culled or rogued later. True stocks are worth double the price of mixed stocks; tho latter aro often unsaleable. The plea of coming at a busy eeason must not be allowed to prevent or deter the grower from digging out these bulbs which are out of place. They should bo treated as weeds, at the only period when they are identifiable; that is when they are in flower. If they aro in quantity, or if valuable, they can be purchased by being planted back in nursery beds ant) will suffer little for their unseasonable lifting.