The Blue Book of Bulbs

The Blue Book of Bulbs, 1916

Chester Jay Hunt's spring-flowering bulb catalog from Little Falls, New Jersey. The work details his horticultural selection philosophy, emphasizing "Cream Quality" bulbs—the choicest grade from Dutch growers' stocks, selected for superior blooms and reserved exclusively for Hunt. The catalog includes practical cultural directions for planting bulbs in outdoor settings, covering soil conditions, planting depth and timing, drainage, and protection methods against pests and frost damage.

Hunt announces relocating his operation from Montclair to Mayfair, a former French horticulturist's estate featuring established gardens and woodlands ideal for his trial operations. He lists 1916 introductions across multiple tulip classes—Early, Double, Cottage, Darwin, Rembrandt, Breeder, and Bybloem varieties—alongside narcissi novelties. The catalog notes market conditions affected by the Great War, predicting scarcity of certain Early Tulip varieties. Over 700 tulip and 200 daffodil varieties were grown in trial gardens for customer observation.