"In the winter of the year 1880, while the author was in attendance upon a large horticultural meeting in a neighboring city, which was attended by nearly all the leading florists and nurserymen in Western New York, the idea of writing this work was first suggested to him. An intelligent lady, present at that meeting, widely known for her skill and success as an amateur florist, in conversation with the writer made the following remarks: "I have in my library at least a dozen different works on floriculture, some of them costly, all of which I have read over and over again, often having to pore over a large volume of almost useless matter, in order to find information on some points I was looking for. "It has occurred to me that some one ought to write a work on flowers, for the use of amateurs, that would contain in a brief space all the requisite information ordinarily needed by those who cultivate flowers in and about their homes. I predict that such a work could not fail to meet and merit a general demand." In writing this little volume, I have earnestly endeavored to carry out, as near as I could, the above suggestions. How far I have succeeded inaccomplishing this end, my readers must judge. I trust that "Your Plants" will be useful and instructive in the field it was designed to occupy-that of a help to amateurs in the successful cultivation of plants and flowers in the house and garden." James Sheehan