LIBRARY 

 NEW YORK 

 BOTANICAL 



GARDEN 



PRSrAOE. 



It is a great pleasure to write to an audience of flower-loyers — they 

 are so eager, so enthusiastic and so delighted with any hints or sug- 

 gestions which will help them in their efforts to make home more 

 beautiful. 



The taste for Window Gardening, and the plant decoration of apart- 

 ments, is becoming almost universal; scarcely a cottage or villa but 

 has its attempts, whether simple or elaborate, to decorate the windows, 

 the porch, or the balcony with some few flower pots or climbing vines ; 

 it is a sign of healthy sentiment, for the presence of flowers always aids 

 in the development of refinement and an elevated taste. 



Desiring to foster this fancy for window ornament, a number of 

 flower-lovers have united with me in the effort to produce a book spe- 

 cially devoted to this subject, aiming to make it simple, practical, and 

 adapted to the use of amateurs and beginners in the cultivation of in- 

 door plants. 



Several gardeners and professional writers have contributed articles 

 on special subjects, and we have combined our experience and informa- 

 tion in a careful manner, endeavoring to produce a volume as accurate 

 and complete as time and space would permit. 



The result is now before the public in this richly illustrated, tasteful 

 volume ; and it is hoped that among this goodly number of pages and 

 engravings, every one will feel that their time is well spent by gaining 

 some hints of use and good service. 



Acknowledgments of kindly assistance are due to C. L. Allen, " Daisy 

 Eyeb right," Thomas Meehan, Kobert Demcker, J. L. Little, Jr.; also 

 to the publishers of some foreign Illustrated Horticultural works, inac- 

 cessible to the general reader, whose names are mentioned in the Index. 



Should the reader feel pleased with this little testimonial to one of the 

 most beautiful of all departments of flower culture, the author will not 

 regret his effort to add some definite encouragement to the more 

 extensive development of Kural Taste. 



The Editor. 



