PREFACE. 



Cut flowers have become a great article of commerce, 

 and the demand for them increases with each passing 

 year. How to grow them to a profit is the great ques- 

 tion with the professional florist. How to grow them 

 successfully, and thus derive a maximum of pleasure 

 from the outlay, is what most interests the amateur. An 

 answer to these questions is what the author has sought 

 to give in these pages. Notwithstanding this industry 

 represents millions of capital, and gives employment 

 to many thousands of people, there exists, as yet, no 

 book which gives the seeker after information, any 

 knowledge concerning this great and constantly in- 

 creasing business. Nor is there any defined process by 

 which the amateur devoid of professional training, 

 who desires to grow for his own pleasure, may do so 

 with any reasonable hope of success. 



To be sure, trade journals and amateur magazines 

 have been estajalished within a few years, in which 

 valuable experiences have appeared from time to 

 time, but scarcely a decade has passed since a ma- 

 jority of the writers were themselves novices, grop- 

 ing in the dark as many a grower is obliged to 

 do to-day. A few wide awake young men are to 



