CALIFORNIAN BULBS 
INTRODUCTION 
[t was in the 3'ear 1879, when I was a boy of eighteen, that I first begaai 
the collection of the native bulbs, seeds, and plants of California. I was 
first employed by a firm in the East, which was the pioneer in hardy plants, 
and then gradually widened my field, until I now have customers all over 
the world. 
It was not long after I had begun to collect before I tried to cultivate 
them as well. 
Each year I traveled more widelj' as a collector and experimented more 
largely in the garden, until the time came when I could give to the business 
my entire time. My experiments in bulb culture have been in several 
localities and c[uite extensive. 
Some years ago I discovered the peculiar fitness for the culture of true 
lilies of a little valley which nestles high in the Coast Range between Men- 
docino and Lake Counties, California. There for some years 1 grew true 
lilies as well as many other bulbous plants with great success, and gained 
an education which enabled me to select a still better location at "The 
Terraces," only a mile away, where I have now concentrated my gardening 
operations. 
^ It is probable that a better site for the culture of plants from many 
regions could hardly be found. It is at an altitude of 2,300 feet above the 
sea and 1,600 feet above Ukiah Valley, which can be seen four miles below. 
With a fine supply of water and rich and varied soils in many exposures, it 
is a site for a garden, and I am growing the finest bulbs and plants of the 
Great AVest with perfect success there. 
^ To secure and grow what is best of the flora of that immense region 
which stretches from Central British America to Mexico and from Color- 
ado to the Pacific is a task which may well take years of time and endless 
patience, but it is the stint which I have set for myself and confidently 
expect to carry out. 
While my special field has been in the collection and cultivation of the 
wild plants, I have experimented widely with bulbs from all over the world, 
and have been exceedingly successful with Tul ips and Daffodils. I have 
reason to bel leve that the bulbs that I g'row of these arc not excelled even 
in Holland, where their growth has been a specialty for hundreds of years. 
RARE PLANTS 
Through a large corps of trained collectors I reach almost every part 
of the region which I have indicated as my chosen field, and have excellent 
facilities for securing any rare plant, bulb, or seed which anv patron may 
be especially desirous of. 
My charge for securing rare pl-uits will be as reasonable as circumstances 
permit. Sometimes the desired plant is not one which would he desired 
by the general trade, and in that instance I would ha\e to make a charge 
to cover the entire expense of securing it. .V plant may be hundreds of 
iniles from the nearest available collector, and when he has traversed tha( 
distance^ there are contingencies which n:av make the journey fruitless,— 
as, for instance, his arrival a lillle (oo earlv. before (he seeds are ripe, 
or a httle too late, when thev have fallen, .\gain ;i drv seas,,n inav have 
prevented any seed fr.un forming or cattle or shee,) have eaten the plants. 
ihe actual tnne consumed in gatlierin-;- a seed mav he Irillino-, while 
the cost oi reachmg it is c(msiderable. On the other hand, it has often 
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