Dollars for Daffodils

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Bring an early spring to your surroundings, then exchange it for cash!

When you plant daffodils, you not only beautify your land, but—by establishing the perky flowering plants—you may well provide yourself with both a spring and fall cash crop. The hardy flowers will thrive almost anywhere: in your yard, in Bossie's pasture, in your woodlot, or along fence rows. What's more, you won't have to spray, prune, mulch, or weed the lovely harbingers of spring . . . and they naturalize themselves so quickly that—in just one year—it'll look as though they've been a part of your landscape all along!

EASY MONEY

Daffodils have to be one of the easiest plants in the world to raise: They are resistant to diseases and natural parasites, and neither cows nor horses (nor even rodents!) will touch them.

Better yet, the original bulbs simply divide themselves in half each year . . . so where you plant one daffodil this spring, a pair will bloom in 12 months. In order to keep this process going, you just remove one bulb and plant it elsewhere. It's a simple procedure, but necessary . . . since daffodils that are left undivided will not multiply as rapidly as will those that are separated, and may become so crowded that they stop reproducing.

And, of course, it's the daffodils' ability to multiply rapidly that will be the source of your income . . . because you can find ready markets in the springtime (for the cheerful end-of-winter blossoms) and—once your crop is established—in the fall (for your surplus bulbs).

AN OVERWHELMING CHOICE

Many bulb companies carry good selections of the over 2,000 varieties of this lovely perennial that are now available, but here's a list of some we've dealt with: John Messelaar Bulb Company (Dept. TMEN, Box 269, Ipswich, Massachusetts 01938) . . . Mary Mattison van Schalk (Dept. TMEN, Route 1, Box 181, Cavendish, Vermont 05142) . . . George W. Park Seed Co., Inc. (Dept. TMEN, Greenwood, South Carolina 29647) . . . and John Scheepers, Inc. (Dept. TMEN, 63 Wall Street, New York, New York 10005).

Write and ask for their catalogs. Then—f the choice among blossom sizes and colors overwhelms you—you might want to begin with a few of the types we've had particularly good luck with. Some of our favorites are Mount Hood, Twink, White Lion, Peeping Tom, February Gold, Actea, Beersheba, Carlton, Fortune, Glenshesk, Manco, Confuco, Walt Disney, Bobolink, and Tunis. (We've found that the miniature varieties, although cute, won't hold their own in heavy grass. So, as a rule of thumb, it's best to avoid any daffodil species that stand less than eight inches high when full grown . . . unless you plan to give the small plants special care.)

The daffodils you purchase should, like most flowering bulbs, be set out in the fall. They'll grow in almost any soil . . . however, if you're planting your crop in very poor earth, an application of wood ash or bone meal will greatly increase the size and the quantity of your spring blooms.

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