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. 
This Cream Quality is eagerly sought for by the English 
seed-houses, and usually all of it is bought up before harvest¬ 
ing begins. Some of these finer bulbs are now being sent to 
America, and American buyers understand what 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 modern 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 
3 
