Suggestions and 

 an Invitation 



Cream Quality 



Notwithstanding the noticeable improvement in the quality 

 of bulbs offered by American dealers during the past two or 

 three years, CREAM QUALITY continues to mean what 

 I had in mind when I first used the phrase some years ago. It is 

 still true that a certain percentage of every year's crop con- 

 sists of what the growers regard as the cream of the bulbs; 

 it produces the finest flowers, and brings the highest prices. 

 These Cream Quality bulbs are what the growlers themselves 

 use for propagating purposes, and it is possible for them to 

 furnish only a limited quantity. Some of these finer bulbs are 

 now being sent to America, and American buyers understand 

 w^hat the better grade of bulbs is, and how much finer bloom 

 can be had from them. The bulbs which my growers reserve 

 for me are selected from their choicest stocks, which they can 

 furnish only to one dealer, since the proportion of this grade 

 in the crop is too limited to enable them to supply it generally 

 to the trade. Cream Quality bulbs are reserved for me only 

 until July 1, and to secure them I offer a moderate advance 

 over the prices for ordinary first quality. Only this grade 

 is offered in my lists, except where ordinary sizes are spe- 

 cifically quoted. 



Furthermore, a Cream Quality list nowadays bears little 

 resemblance to any of the lists of a dozen years ago, for the 

 improvement in all classes of bulbs has been so marked that 

 a great many of the older favorites are unworthy of a place 

 in the modem garden. This Blue Book retains only the cream 

 of the older kinds, and adds the best of the newer sorts. In 

 making selections from my list, then, there is no chance of 

 being misled by an attractive color-description into choosing 

 varieties of which the growers have large stocks, and which 



