6 INTRODUCTION. 



ill winter, and, in summer, need only to be dried off 

 in a cellar or on a closet-slielf. 



They are subject to few diseases, and insects seldom 

 attack them. All these are great recommendations ; 

 and when we add that the blossoms are not only very 

 showy, but, in many species, also delightfully fra- 

 grant, we have said enough to cause them to be gen- 

 erally cultivated. 



In the garden, also, they play an important part ; 

 beginning to bloom with the early snowdrop, which 

 looks out with timid eyes upon the storms of Feb- 

 ruary ; and ending only with the adventurous col- 

 chicum, which, heedless of fading leaves and frowning 

 skies, thrusts up its delicate blossoms of purple or 

 white in the short November days, as if to bid a fare- 

 well to the dying year. 



The culture of bulbs is yet in its infancy. As a 

 class, these plants are every year attracting more 

 attention ; and the time is not far distant when the 

 skill of the hybridist and the researches of collect- 

 ors will greatly increase our number of species and 

 varieties. 



If we may take the hyacinth for an instance, where, 

 from a single original species, all the numberless 

 forms now in cultivation have been derived, or, what 



