154 Annals of Hortiadture . 



^'novelty" even though '^entirely new", may remain in the 

 *' novelty pages" of the catalogue for two or three or more 

 years; and a direct application to the dealer may elicit no in- 

 formation. All this difficulty is no doubt, for the most part, 

 a simple indifference to any rigid or systematic attempt to- 

 wards a yearly record, and it has its origin in the life-long 

 half careless methods of introducing novelties. 



It is often difficult, also, to determine when a plant is ''in- 

 troduced," as I pointed out last year (Annals, 1889, 96). 

 Sometimes plants have been widely distributed from friend to 

 friend long before they are offered for sale ; some are adver- 

 tised in catalogues one year, but not actually sold until the 

 next ; sometimes plants are re-introduced, after having dropped 

 from sight ; some are introduced in Europe a year or two be- 

 fore reaching this country , and many are widely known among 

 experimenters and from reports in the press before appearing 

 upon the markets. To avoid as many as possible of these diffi- 

 culties I have attempted to record only the date of introduction 

 into ''American trade." 



There is no attempt whatever towards any revision of names 

 or the determination of synonyms, as the purpose of the list 

 is a simple record of the activities of the year. I have attemp- 

 ted to give a brief description of the plants, obtained from the 

 originator or introducer. These descriptions are simply such 

 as I have been able to collect, and in no case can I vouch for 

 their accuracy. 



The list contains 575 plants, against 434* in the list for 

 1889. .This increase of 141 varieties is due in part to the more 

 thorough canvas of the field which I have made this year, but 

 I am of the opinion that greater activity was shown in the in- 

 troduction of new varieties in 1890 than in 1889, particularly 

 in the case of some vegetables. The most remarkable circum- 

 stances common to nearly all these novelties is the assurance 

 that perfection has been reached, that every old variety has 

 been out-done, and that the new comer just fills the niche 

 which was void. The English language is commonly taxed 

 to its utmost to express the superlative virtues of the claimants, 

 particularly among vegetables, and. in order to emphasize be- 

 yond the power of expression, epithets are frequently piled 



* Omitting ten chrysanthemums marked " 1890." 



