INTRODUCTION. 9 



is already in press; and the other volumes on " Green- 

 house Flowers," " Wild Flowers," and " Ferns, Lich- 

 ens and Mosses," are in preparation. 



Tae whole, when completed, will form a library of 

 practical culture, which the author trusts may be the 

 means of advancing the cause of floriculture, and 

 prove a practical benefit to horticultural science. 



Many of the bulbs described as tender, and for 

 which greenhouse treatment is directed, may prove 

 hardy in the Middle States, and undoubtedly would 

 in all States south of the latitude of Washington. 

 The volume is written for the latitude of Massachu- 

 setts, and due allowance must be made by readers 

 living either North or South. As we have often had 

 occasion to observe, the proper application of the 

 word " hardy " is a source of great difficulty to the 

 horticultural writer, as the hardiness of a plant is reg- 

 ulated by so many circumstances other than mere 

 temperature. In many cases, the fact can only be 

 determined by experiment, and each must be his own 

 judge. A volume can lay down only general rules, to 

 which each reader may, perchance, find his own 

 exceptions. 



There is no prettier culture than that of bulbs. To 

 watch the foliage and flower gradually developing 



