FOREWORD 
It is hard to write a foreword this year. Circumstances have neces- 
Sitated so many and sometimes so prolonged absences from my gar- 
den that I have not been able to study the plants with my customary 
care or take the notes needful both for criticism and checking of 
stocks. Our very long dry winter was extremely hard on daffodils and 
it was feared the effect on the irises might be similar, but these sur- 
prised us with a memorable quantity of bloom, especially on well 
established clumps. The opportunity afforded for a thorough re- 
evaluation of varieties, old and new, was therefore priceless. Even 
more often than usual one heard the remark among visitors to the 
smaller gardens,—““What an exquisite effect, and scarcely a new iris 
here!” This sharpens the point of a “sermon” which we have 
preached before, but which stands almost unlimited re-emphasis,— 
the variety to choose and to use depends mainly upon one single con- 
sideration, the intended purpose. Far too often we find ourselves car- 
ried away by a glimpse of an exciting presence on the exhibition 
stand or by the puffings of a salesman. Lo, the said presence or puf- 
fee is in its turn carried away, with disillusionment in the sequel as 
inescapable once we had forgotten the purpose for which we intend- 
ed the plant as it was avoidable had the purpose been kept clearly in 
mind. There are three primary functions which flowers like daffodils 
and irises serve in their cultivation by the non-commercial grower: 
the decorative garden or landscape effect of the plant as a whole, the 
artistry of flowers and foliage when cut for arrangement in home or 
place of gathering, and the technical impressiveness of specimen 
stems seen in the sophisticated setting of a flower show. Each of 
these functions is a perfectly legitimate one, but each is entirely dis- 
tinct from the others and the requirements for eminence in no two of 
them are fundamentally the same. It is my own belief that from the 
ethical and artistic point of view the one first mentioned is of far and 
away the highest order and is most permanently satisfying, as well 
as offering the greatest challenge. Next to this comes the second, and 
only then the third, although it is this last which, wrongfully invad- 
ing them, much tco often obscures and defeats our judgment in the 
other fields. Hardly any of the very enormous flowers now enjoying 
so much (no doubt largely artificial) acceleration in popularity are 
really top notch for much of anything except the show bench. A few 
are so statuesque in isolated clumps as to deserve the adjective mag- 
nificent, but the majority have been selected on no such high ground, 
and far too often turn out to be ungainly as individual plants or give 
an overdressed or messed-up effect in a crowd. Again, colors that are 
exquisite in close detail are frequently dull or commonplace in mass, 
while even among the best garden sorts it is necessary to use reason- 
ably good judgment as to associations and position or the consequen- 
ces will be quite different from those so eagerly anticipated. So in 
making selections from this or any other list let us bear these princi- 
ples unfailingly in mind, and there will come a warm spot of grati- 
fied hope in our heart from which the catalogue will reflect increased 
temptations in the years to come, and which will bring us back to its 
pages again and again, seeking out the offerings of most value to 
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