PREFACE ix 



The chapters on the best species for planting in different 

 situations form a garden-guide of judicious advice to the 

 cultivator, and along with the concluding calendar provide 

 a directory by means of which any gardener may achieve 

 success in Iris-culture and enjoy the delight of uninterrupted 

 succession of bloom from January to December. 



The whole story is necessarily brief within the compass 

 of so small a volume nevertheless compendious. It is, 

 however, no secret that in this little guide for everybody 

 we have only a whet to the banquet which Mr. Dykes has 

 prepared for us in the larger book, with full descriptions and 

 many illustrations of the species of Iris, that is to appear 

 shortly through the enterprise of the Syndics of the 

 Cambridge University Press. In relation to that larger work 

 this sketch will be a primer. In their association Horti- 

 culture will have a story of Iris in Present-day Gardening 

 for which Mr. Dykes will merit gratitude. 



ISAAC BAYLEY BALFOUR. 



ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS, 

 EDINBURGH. 



