4 
beautiful and useful is what has been endeavored to 
attain by this work. If among the many disadvan- 
tages of the rigorous climate of the North, or beneath 
the smoky skies of England, Floriculture is so ex- 
tensively practiced and enjoyed, how much more 
ought we to enjoy it with our wealth of sunshine, 
our genial climate, and generous soil? | 
The development of our mineral wealth, the pro- 
gress of manufactures, the ever increasing yield of 
our agriculture, are strides in the onward march of 
our material prosperity that manifest itself in our 
schools, our authors, our public press, and the in- 
creasing fondness for the beautiful in art, as well as 
the development of the beautifulin nature. All are 
triumphs in our advancement that it is the purpose 
of the author to keep pace with in the art of Flori- 
culture. 
Floriculture without wealth is but the vision of a 
dream, and as our wealth has grown so has Flori- 
culture extended everywhere throughout our land. 
The Floriculture of the present is not like the Flori- 
culture of the past. New plants have been intro- 
duced, and consequently many new systems have 
been adopted. More interest in flowers is at present 
manifested than ever before in the history of the 
South. For instance the great interest manifested 
in Chrysanthemums at the present day, now de- 
nominated a craze, is unrivalled in the annals of 
