Land 



PREFACE 



IT is difficult to understand why a book on Rhododendrons, 

 within the means of ordinary gardening folk, has been so 

 long in making its appearance. That there has been a 

 steady and growing demand for such a book is a well-known 

 fact. The reason is probably that there are very few people 

 qualified to write the book, and it is doubly fortunate that 

 Mr. Watson has been induced to undertake the task. No 

 one is better qualified ; no one is more familiar with the 

 cultural requirements of Rhododendrons or has a more 

 thorough knowledge of this interesting genus in all its 

 species, varieties, and hybrids. Mr. Watson has already 

 done much to develop the popular taste for Rhododendrons, 

 and to help and encourage" other workers, but by writing 

 the present volume he has earned the gratitude of every 

 cultivator. 



As to the merits of Rhododendrons there can be no 

 question, and no one who has seen a good collection at 

 flowering time, or who has quietly enjoyed half-an-hour on 

 a bright day in early summer studying the effects of large, 

 mixed clumps of even the commoner and older varieties, 

 will disagree with the statement that they are " by far the 

 most valuable of all hardy evergreen flowering shrubs ever 

 introduced." I certainly do not quarrel with it. Of many 

 plants it is said, or has been said, " Their day has come." 

 The day of the Rhododendron came with the introduction 



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