PUBLISHERS NOTE Vll 



Henri Hus, with the cooperation of the 

 veteran cultivator, Mr. James Gurney, whose 

 association with water-lily growing dates back 

 to the occasion when the giant Victoria regia 

 first opened its flowers in cultivation. Mr. 

 Gurney is a pioneer in water-lily culture and 

 his work at the Missouri Botanical Garden, 

 and later at Tower Grove Park, St. Louis, 

 Mo., is well known. 



The remaining chapters (Chapters i., vii., 

 viii., ix., and xi.), dealing with the relative 

 merits of the different varieties offered in the 

 trade, are chiefly by Professor Henry S. 

 Conard, who has made a special study of the 

 entire family; he is the author of a monograph 

 on the genus Nymphaea, published by the 

 Carnegie Institution, and is perfectly familiar 

 with the work of the hybridists, having 

 watched the development of many of the 

 crosses made by Mr. Tricker and others. 



The lists of water-lilies for special purposes 

 given in Chapter xv. are also chiefly Pro- 

 fessor Conard's, into which have been em- 

 bodied a few suggestions made by Mr. Gurney. 



