INTRODUCTION 



TO 



« PLANT- CATALOGUE. » 



<y I © 



-*. »^>—-»£3e=$«-«"S v fi •♦- 



'HE HISTORY OF OUR BUSINESS well illustrates the progress of floriculture in 

 this country in the past forty years. From a few small green-houses in 1848, our 

 establishment is to-day the largest, and most systematically conducted on this 

 continent. We now employ nearly seventy men in our green-houses, which will convey 

 some idea of the vast amount of plants we handle each year, and the careful attention we 

 pay to the details of culture, which enables us, we believe, to produce finer stock at lower 

 prices than any one else. 



r"lllT» C* n/vAw limicac (which were shown by an engraving on last page of cover in Catalogue of 1885) 

 \J 111 \J1 CCI1~11U UovO embrace an area of 600 x 300 feet, or something over four acres solid in glass. 



A/^rvlrl Q"f /M»Q ret* QVlCk/1 — T^is ' s a building 300 feet long by 20 feet wide, which we built last 

 IjOIli DLUI dg" OlltJtlo summer (1885) expressly for the purpose of storing hardy and half- 

 lardy plants in, such as Roses, Chrysanthemums, Clematis, Grape Vines, Hollyhocks, Strawberries, etc. Besides 

 largely increasing our area, we will now be able to fill orders for everything, even in the coldest winter weather. This 

 will be a great convenience for our Southern trade, who usually order when all outside stuff in this latitude is frozen in. 



_ Ot»/1 abc — From our immense extent and facilities for producing, we are in a position 



^^5 Ul UCl Oi to make contracts for bedding plants in quantity at special low rates. Among 



other orders of this kind which we executed last year was one of 18,000 plants supplied to the Manhattan Beach Co., 

 Coney Island, N. Y. The fine effect produced by this large number of plants was the admiration of thousands who 

 visited this popular seaside resort. 



T7nnn»\oon Q"f/\ol^ — ^ r- P eter Henderson, while in Europe last summer, personally inspected 

 J-i LII \J jJCClli kJluvll« the establishments of the leading growers, and purchased largely of the finest 

 novelties and most valuable stock he could find. So our Catalogue of this year contains the finest collection of plants 

 we have ever offered — the very cream of the Old World and the New. 



p !• x f -ii nytQ —We desire to thank our many customers of past years for their 



vUIIipilIIlClildJ J JLtJllCI b« liberal patronage, and also for the hundreds of flattering testi- 

 monials we received as to the size and quality of our plants, and the liberal manner in which we fill our orders. (See 

 testimonials at bottom of pages.) 



11 tj __i. — The yearly increasing number of varieties in such things as Geraniums, 



wlllY LUG UC3l« Verbenas, Coleus, Fuchsias, Chrysanthemums, etc., has caused us to cast aside 

 the inferior sorts, and to offer only a few (usually a dozen) of the very finest sorts, such varieties as exhibit the best 

 traits of vigor of growth, profusion of bloom, richness of color, etc. This is not only a convenience, but a protection 

 to our customers, who can feel sure of receiving no poor thing or worthless variety when ordering from us. 



j *q • — A personal inspection of our plants, at the Green-houses, or a trial order, will convince all 



JUU W A 1 lL/GO» of the high quality of our plants, and a most casual comparison of our prices will reveal 

 the fact that our prices are the very lowest. Notice our prices on Roses, Geraniums, Coleus, Chrysanthemums and 

 other leading things, and you will see this is true. It must always be borne in mind, however, that SIZE enters into the 

 question of price. Roses, for example, four or five inches high, and grown in two-inch pots, are dearer at ten cents each 

 to the buyer, than a Rose a foot in height -grown in a five-inch pot at thirty cents each, for in the case of the larger 

 plants, results are obtained at once, while with smaller plants half the season is over before any bloom can be obtained. 



From pages 106 to 116, are, of course, many of them yet of high 



New, or Scarce Plants, 



price, owing to their scarcity. 



