'-^%. . . i 



As decorative plants 

 r c ms for the house these, 



next to Palms, fur- 

 nish the most important subjects. 

 Hardly a home can be found to-day 

 without its one or more Boston Ferns, 

 or one of its improved varieties, or 

 where is the household dining-table 

 that is complete without its neatly 

 arranged Fern dish. To illustrate the 

 wonderfully increasing popularity of 

 this class of decorative plants we have 

 but to say that less than twenty years 

 ago all the Ferns we sold were 

 grown in a greenhouse covering less 

 than four hundred square feet. To- 

 day over sixty-five thousand square 



feet, or more than an acre and a j- ,, r ^ 



half, with a staff of specialists in this '^ ^^^ acre field of Cau,uu 



particular line, are devoted to Fern growing alone, and more than two million plants are distributed every season. 

 T)o]-i 1 i o g These, during late years, have again become very popular, undoubtedly due, in a great extent, 

 to the many improved forms which have recently been placed on the market. Our sales of 





Dahlias in 1895, twelve years ago, amounted to less than 8000 roots ; to-day over forty acres are devoted to their culti- 

 vation, and over 300,000 roots are 

 grown for one season's sales. 



In connection with the above we 

 wish to state that our Dahlias are 

 grown under the supervision of some 

 of our most experienced and careful 

 men, that every precaution has been 

 taken to prevent mixtures, and that our 

 customers may rely on getting stock 

 absolutely true to name. 



Cannas 



0)it ('/ ill,- J'eni Houses 



brought to a state of perfection in size, color and freedom 



for the garden in such a short period, our own country 



prominent part in this improvement. 



The fact that we distribute annually 



nearly a quarter million of these 



roots gives ample proof of their 



popularity. 



This department, in addition to 

 the specialties already mentioned, 

 embraces many other plants which 

 are handled in enormous quantities 

 and whose culture are under the care 

 of competent men. Space does not 

 permit us to go into details, the thirty- 

 eight pages of this catalogue devoted 

 to this department are filled with the 

 best of such plants as Carnations, 

 Chrysanthemums, Fuchsias, Gera- 

 niums, Heliotropes, Petunias, Violets, 

 etc., etc. 



When the French 

 hybridizer, the 

 late M. Crozy, in 

 1892 introduced his first important 

 collection of what were then known as 

 Dwarf French, or Crozy Cannas, he 

 little realized that he was giving us 

 the ideal American bedding plant, a 

 plant which would not only delight and 

 flourish perfectly in our hot sum- 

 mers, but which would also withstand 

 our extremes of dry and wet weather. 

 Two of these original sorts are still 

 among the popular and standard vari- 

 eties. The plant to-day has been 

 of bloom not accomplished in any other flowering plant 

 as well as France, Germany and Italy having taken a 



House 



15 



