INTRODUCTION. 



1 SUPPOSE that all horticulturists are agreed that an an- 

 nals of yearly progress in horticulture is a desideratum ; 

 and yet there is no unanimity as to the plan or scope of 

 such a work. It must necessarily include a record of the 

 new plants of the year, and some reference to current books 

 and bulletins may be expected, together, perhaps, with direc- 

 tories of societies and other horticultural institutions. But 

 beyond these matters, perhaps no two horticulturists would 

 agree. It is, therefore, peculiarly difficult to prepare a yearly 

 volume which shall satisfy its readers. The field which these 

 volumes are designed to enter is an entirely new one, not only 

 because of the broad survey which they attempt to make, but 

 largely also, because they are made at the close of the year, 

 rather than at its beginning. They make no effort to compile 

 directories and trade-lists for the use of the year to come, but 

 they aim to glean the most important facts and movements of 

 each closing year, and to bind them up compactly into a single 

 sheaf. In a country so large and an industry so varied, it is 

 impossible to gather all which is worthy of record in a com- 

 pendium of horticultural progress ; but I hope that there is 

 enough in the following pages to enable the sympathetic 

 reader to arrive at some measure of the broader activities 

 of the year. 







