PREFACE. 
The growing of bulbs to produce flowers in their 
greatest perfection, is a branch of gardening peculiar to 
itself, and one in which the minor, yet important details, 
are not generally understood. It is one of the objects 
of this book to show how the growing of bulbs can be 
made a pleasure, or a profitable industry, by giving com- 
plete cultural instructions in detail. The flowering of 
bulbs is a very simple matter. The bulb, when it comes 
from the hands of the grower, contains within itself the 
food for the future flower, and it does not require the 
gardeners’ skill to develop it. There are a few necessary 
points to be considered, and these we have so plainly 
stated, that many of the supposed difficulties in their 
cultivation have been removed. Causes of failure have 
been explained so fully, that with but little trouble, 
there need be no fear of loss in their cultivation. The 
erowing of bulbs, other than the charms their flowers 
possess, has many advantages over that of any other 
class of flowering plants; among others, and a very great 
one, is that many of them produce their flowers in very 
early spring, at a season when few other plants are in 
blossom, and yet when flowers are doubly valuable from 
their rarity. At this season, in a sheltered, sunny spot, 
a few clumps of Snow-drops, Crocus and Scillas will pre- 
sent a mass of color, in graceful forms, while the snow 
yet lingers in shaded places; before these are gone, the 
Hyacinths refresh us with their grateful . fragrance ; 
