.....INTRODUCTION..... 



author of the following pages would never have assumed to instruct his brother florists, however 

 limited their experience might be, had not he received many flattering comments on his cultural notes 

 which appeared in the American Florist and later in the Florists Review. These notes were well 

 received, even by men who were able to teach the author, and brought to my busy desk hundreds of 

 inquiries on a wide range of subjects, which I found were beginning to be a great tax on my time. 



Being made with that disposition which gratifies itself when any favor can be bestowed, we 

 determined in an unguarded moment to compile our knowledge of commercial plants into a volume, 

 and if those who favor us with a perusal of its pages glean only one hint which may help them in their business they 

 will have received value for their money and we shall feel highly gratified aside from any pecuniary reward. We are 

 one of those who esteem the respect and approbation of our fellow men, and particularly those in our own calling, far 

 above riches, but if a substantial reward is sent us for our labors we shall again be grateful. 



A friend of venerable age, with some experience as a writer, a student of horticultural lore, told me last winter 

 that a business man should not attempt to be a literary man. We scarcely even then realized the truth of his words as 

 we have the past three months. We scarcely knew at the start what a task we had undertaken. The writing has been 

 done at odd hours snatched from business cares, and no little midnight oil, or rather gas, has helped the book along. 



It was difficult to determine the limit of the book, but as will be apparent few plants are noticed but those of com 

 mercial value, and those only in a strictly commercial way. Had we known of any work giving plain cultural 

 directions for our leading plants this book would not have been begun. My own business embraces nearly every branch, 

 from selling a bunch of violets over the counter to planting a tree or seeding a lawn or building a greenhouse, and 

 therefore we have with confidence touched on several features of the business besides the growing. 



This book was never intended for men who have made specialties of a few plants with great success. Being 

 specialists they have reduced their business to a science and make no mistakes, but they are few compared to the great 

 army of florists who grow and retail and have to handle a great variety of plants. Many of these are not graduates of 

 horticultural establishments but have left some other calling to engage in floriculture. Another class is the young man 

 who has been brought up in places where the rose or carnation, or perhaps palms, was the specialty and where the oppor 

 tunity of observing the care or culture of other plants was limited. To such a one we believe this book will be of service. 



Looking back over thirty years experience in this country we are amazed and gratified at the enormous strides 

 the business of floriculture has made, and why should the limit be yet reached? We believe with confidence 

 that the use of flowers and plants is yet to grow tenfold. They are the handmaid of refinement, good taste and real 

 gentility, all of which is blessing the mass of the people more and more. We believe that our florist shopkeepers and 

 their clerks could imbibe a little more knowledge of the plants they handle without any detriment to their health or 

 prosperity. 



We wish to acknowledge to Mr. W. H. Taplin the several valuable articles on choice palms, ferns and cycads 

 which bear his initials. It must be acknowledged that there is no better authority than Mr. Taplin on those special 

 plants. For the very practical chapter on commercial Orchids we are indebted to Mr. Wm. Hewson, who handles a 

 cattleya with the freedom, quickness and success that some men do a geranium. To my good friend John F. Cowell. 

 Director of our Botanic Gardens, I am indebted for access to and hints on his collection of Nepenthes, Bromeliads, etc. 

 The remainder of the pages are my own experience and observation. 



If you think there is sometimes a little extraneous matter that is not connected with the subject, and may be 

 called frivolous, don t blame the author ; he could not help it however much he tried to suppress it ; occasionally 

 there had to be a slight relief from the dry monotony of the subject. 



And last the author owes much to Mr. G. L. Grant, the publisher, who has so ably put the matter in form and 

 finely illustrated many of the subjects. 



With a fervent wish that with all their imperfections these pages will be appreciated by many, I remain, with 

 some confidence and much hope. 



Yours very sincerely, 



WILLIAM SCOTT. 

 Buffalo. 1899. 



^...INTRODUCTION TO SECOND EDITION..... 



The author has little to add and nothing to erase from the above. The reason and cause of my presuming t 

 write this simple volume holds good today. It was well received, and what was gratifying was the fact that as time 

 went on the demand for the book increased. The first edition has long since been exhausted and hundreds of orders have 

 since that been received and now await fulfilment, so I think that is a just encouragement to write a second edition. 



No doubt all trades and professions consider their special calling has advanced at a wonderful rate, and in most 

 cases this is doubtless true, but surely few professions have advanced with greater strides than the glorious field of 

 horticulture with all its intellectuality. With new and improved varieties of florists flowers have come better methods 

 of cultivation. In fact we owe to rational and improved methods of culture the marvelous improvement in our leading 

 florists flowers more than to the introduction of new varieties, although great has been the painstaking work of hybridists. 



We honestly hope and believe that we have kept in touch with the work and achievements of our most progres 

 sive men, and have taken sincere pleasure in imparting to our readers all knowledge we consider of value -which -we 

 possessed. 



This edition has been written with greater effort than the first because of poor health, yet many happy hours 

 have been spent in its composition. With much gratitude for the many kind words expressed regarding the first edition, 

 and hoping that the second will be found up-to-date on most leading subjects, I am. 



Your respectful friend, 



WILLIAM SCOTT. 

 Buffalo, March 10, 1906. 



