PREFACE TO THE NEW EDITION. 



Since the first publication of this volume, now ten 

 years ago, horticulture has made rapid progress both 

 in improved modes of culture and in introduction of 

 new species. 



Hybridization has also done much, and new vari- 

 eties are continually brought to notice ; yet when 

 we survey the whole field, we find comparatively few 

 plants which are really better than those of a decade 

 ago. Novelty is by no means a test of merit, and 

 this constant craving for something new, to gratify 

 which the pages of florists' catalogues are filled with 

 notices of worthless plants, is pernicious. It leads 

 us to neglect the old and tried favorites of the gar- 

 den, the old-fashioned flowers, which are in many 

 cases much more beautiful and desirable than any of 

 the more recent introductions, often for plants whose 

 \only merit is the questionable one of novelty. 



^ In some classes there have been real acquisitions, 

 — • — in the lilies, the maples, the canna, the pelar- 

 gonium, — and by the introduction of many new foli- 

 J;^ged plants for summer bedding, the garden has 

 0"t)een almost revolutionized. 



