THE QUEEN OF SPRINGFLOWERS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2437, 28 November 1900, Page 8

THE QUEEN OF SPRINGFLOWERS.

An elementary lecture by the Rev. J. G. W. Ellis, F.R.H.S., to the members of the Gore Horticultural Society on October 5. Flowers are always welcome, and are always loved and lovable, but they are never more welcome than when- the icy hand of Winter begins to relax its hold on Nature and Mother Earihrappears to awaken into new life. Those flowers that aro the harbingers of that new life "that ever gets stronger as the days grow longer," such, for instance, as the snowdrop a"hd the crocus, always awaken gratitude and command our admiration of their efforts, they are so liny and yet so brave that they appear to be all courage, for they push themselves up through a brittle crust, and ofter open their eyes to look up into leaden skies, and all undismayed by the fact that they have few companions, they quietly bloom away, and thus help to inspire others to put in an appearance. And when they have served their purpose, and. like all things else tiiat do. they as quietly disappear and make way for others, there comes the "primrose by the river's brim," and the fro grant violet with its inspiring odour, and then "a rising stalk with yellow blossoms crowned" bursts out of the charnel-house in which the dreary winter months have been spent, and the queen of spring flowers, the lovely daffodil, waves her golden head above the rehabilitated greenness of the earth's bosom. She is, indeed, a stately flower, and is perhaps best fitted to fill the place of the earlier ' snowdrop and the slender crocus, and to open up the way for the appearance of a mighty army coming in grac&lxil and continuous sue- ' cession to fill ova gardens with gay colours and delicious perfume until winter comes again, and she does her full share to cheer : our, ice-bound, hearts and gladden our snow- ~ filled eyes as only flowers can. | Everybody who" really loves flower's — who r [ if th.ey lived in, Australia, where* my "boyhood > days were ppent, would feast their eye's upon r and go into ecstasies over the rich profusion ' of .Nature's lovely dresses there, and who anywHere would have sufficient admiration for I garden flowers to cultivate and care for them, • should grow spring flowers. Those persons j who, though they may not perhaps be able ! to afford to purchase many of the beatitiful \ products of the florist, do not grudge the necessary time and labour and patience to grow whatever a chance find or a generous neighbour may put their way, will always be well repaid for cultivating a spring garden, but none of tho flowers of spring time will give you greater compensation than the daffodil, and none will open a wider field of research or furnish you with greater opportunities of investigation; and of this I am certain, none will give you greater pleasure, whether 3'ou grow them for exhibition or merely as garden ornaments. , My own exploits in this direction were begun in a peculiar but interesting way, and ' my achievements are due in the first place | to the itinerating system of the minis-try of \ the Methodist Church. The periodic changes iof residence which the Methodist preacher knows all too well necessitate taking one's garden with him, and if it were a garden of roses and carnations and pansies, and phlox, this constant moving would in all probability be destructive of horticultural tastes, but in the matter of spring bulb culture this changing is opportune in more ways than one. First, the ministerial changes are made just at the right season for planting; and' i second, the Bulbs will bear being out of the ! ground,/and do not suffer in, transit. These I are two excellent reasons, ' but there is a better still why one in my position may grow them. Many of the varieties ' enjoy and , [ flourish upon periodic changes of soil and climate, and this, mine get' when, like the ! wandering Arab, I fold my tent and seek f i es.h j fields wherein to do my work. i When I began to interest myself in narcissi [culture a few years ago. it was because I i could carry my bulbs with me from pkee to i place, but that is not the reason I cultivate j them now!" During those half a dozen years j I got to know a good deal about the flower aiid its family relationships, and have now become keenly interested in its history, its developments, and its habits, and this is j the reason why I now not only grow it myi self, and keep adding new varieties to my ' stock anivually, but 'why I also recommend I other? to grow it as well. My last change of residence — luckily for me in this vespect, at any rate — brought me into | a district where what 1 had considered was a fairly respectable collection- of some 3C /arieties was completely overshadowed and' made to, appear d very meagre one 1 y c •.. mi parison with the collections owned by several ''■ Lawrence growers, but let me assure you tl>at this had not the effect of difcouraging my efforts or diminishing my love for or interest in the flower. Hie man who loves and grows le*s valuable sorts for tlieii own sake will, as a rule, be most appreciative of the rarer and belter varieties grown by another, and will at least be grateful for the opportunity to appreciate in another's garden what he can never hope |to have in his own. One man in Lawrence i —Mr H. Hart — has a collection of over 130 varieties, some of the choicest known ; and even in the winter, when all that you can leo are rows of zinc labels with names thereon of emperors and empresses, princes and pects, courtiers and clergymen, statesmen and florists, a visit to that garden and a taste of Its owner's passion, for narcissi is a real delight ; when in the spring, be&ide each bit ■>{ ;iuc, there is a clump of broad, green grass orowntd by lovely flowers, r&nging from tho deejje&t

orange to the purest white, and a vavljiy of form surpassing even the range of colour, urn delight is necessarily intensified. Though the daffodil has very deservedly become extremely popular during the la»t ftw years, it is by no 3neans a modern yuuiit, in its original form, at least. Sneelirims of ihe dried bulb have been obtained from mummy cases ts ell known \to have been^ i^itomoed 2000 years before the Christian era, and from references made thereto in ancient writings wo discover that it was known to bhe Git ok and Latin poets, who t"v\i^cd pret;y l?yfids around it. But lam not recommending the culture of daffodils to you because oltl Egyptians grew them and ancient Greeks sang their praises. I have better and more ir.ciern reasons, and recommend them for the pleasure ; that they bring to-daj r . First, then, because they furnish you with such a wide range of beauty in form and Qutlinej in shades of colour, and constitution and habit, and because in this respect they, more so, than any other flower I know, give a grand field for observation and research. If there were only one kind of daffodil, and that the old and common double Telamonius plenus, it would still be worth growing, and if it were hard to grow it would have a myriad of admirers; but common and all as it is, when you see a clump of nodding yellow heads on a green lawn or in a backyard, there is an added charm to the landscape owing to their presence, and when you remember that there are hundreds of varieties, and each has a beauty of its own, you want to know more of the beautiful relations of this very common but delighting specmen. In the second place the daffodil has become Fashion's flower, and a multitude of votaries bow at the shrine where she is worshipped. Practical horticulturists spend their energies in her service, moneyed men lay their cash upon her altar, artists copy her form and colour, ladies adorn tlieir houses and themselves with her lovely blossoms, and when arrayed in her blooms, arc proud to think themselves like the lily of Palestine, superior J;o the wisest of Israel's kings. In B!olland, acre upon acre is devoted to the culture of narcissi. In County Cork. Ireland, Mr Hartland keeps from eighi to 12 "hands ' employed lifting and planting bulbs where, about 10 years ago, an old man herded cows on an old pasture field. A sight of Barr's gardens in Surrey, England, in the month of April, where there are 20 acres under cultivation, and they grow between 500 and 600 varieties in beds containing as many as 100,000 bulbs, would siwely convince one oi the popularity of this flower ; whilst a look into any of the numerous catalogues published by any of the first-class firms would quickly prove how money is much needed to procure the finest specimens. , Glory of Leyden sells at Home for 12s 6d, Madame de, Graff for 21s ; Sampson is the same price, and Shakoipeare 255 ; and if these are not sufficiently expensive for you, "Weardale perfection can probably, be purchased for 30s or 12gs. In 1897 Ban; and Sons offered one bulb each' of 16 new varieties for lOgs. There is another reason for growing the dafi'odil — viz., it is easily cultivated, and gives you splendid results for very little care — that is, of course, to .many persons a magnificent recommendation. It is" par excellence tho lazy man's flower. If you are so disposed you,can plant your bulbs and take your ease, and the daffodil will bloom and keep on blooming for a few year* at least, and take oare of itself ; several varieties adapt themselves readily to this kind of treatment. If you decide not to grow them in your garden, in clumps or nursery rows, but in a wild or semi-wild state, let me recommend more than one or two varieties for the purpose", say, at least, half a dozen, and don't plant them in geometrical figures, but after thoroughly mixing the sorts together, /Scatter handfuls of them over the lawn or other spot where you intend to grow them, and then go round with a "dibbler," and make a hole about 4-in to 6in deep by the side of each bulb and place your bulb in it and fill it up wit*h soil. The effect i 3 as though the wind had scattered the seed, and the flowers had bloomed therefrom. If, however, you are not lazy, and want to grow for garden efteet, or perhaps for exhibition, you will find that for care and attention it will repay you quite as much as any other Sower I know, and they are, as you are aware, not a few. The Rev. E. S. Bourne, who is one of the authorities on the culture in England, and a member of tbe Narcissi Committee of the Royal Horticultural Society, recommends that a portion of the (garden should be sot apart so that the flowed may receive special attention, and not merely that attention that it would get as one flower in the whole garden. But if even if you have no other reason for growing them than to cut their blooms to decorate yoiir rooms, not many flowers can give you better effects or more endurance. Given an occasional change of pure water and a shake up when getting it, - and cutting a bit off the stalk, they "will grace your homes for many days. ' / (To be continued.)