July 13, 1907 



HORTICULTURE 



41 



given to the type, paper and printing 

 to be used i£ full selling attractiveness 

 is to result. 



Postage considerations are respon- 

 sible in many ways for making the 

 modern seed catalogue the oculist's 

 friend. No man would willingly read 

 the small type which it is deemed ne- 

 cessary to use it he could get out of it, 

 and I fear that many who receive the 

 catalogues printed in the small type 

 can and do get out of it. If the bene- 

 ficent government of the United States 

 through its Post Office Department 

 did not place a cash penalty upon plain 

 printing, I feel sure that there would 

 be few seed catalogues printed in any- 

 thing smaller than 8-point or brevier 

 type, which carries 28 words to the 

 square inch under normal conditions.- 

 As it is, far too many of these cata- 

 logues are printed in 6-point, known as 

 nonpareil type, which carries 53 words 

 to the square inch, and thus occupies 

 practically but half the space of the 

 more desirable and easily read 8-point 

 type. 



There is an intermediate type known 

 as minion, or 7-point, which includes 

 42 words to the square inch. This in 

 good practice is taken as the happy 

 meditim between the small noupariel 

 and the space-wasting brevier. It 

 takes, independent of the space re- 

 quired by illustrations, 23 per cent 

 more space than that taken by the 

 solid nonpariel, while it is a 50 per 

 cent gain of space on the large S-point. 

 Unfortunately, many printers do not 

 have this type, and not having studied 

 the intimate relations of type to paper 

 and eye and selling, they are prone to 

 recommend the smaller type because 

 it is more profitable to set. When a 

 more legible condition is required of 

 them, it is given by the insertion of 

 thin strips of metal between tlie lines, 

 technically known as "leads." which. 

 while opening out the page, do not 

 make legible the excessively small 

 letters. While between leaded non- 

 pareil and solid minion tliere is prac- 

 tically no difference in the number of 

 words to the square inch, there is a 

 vast difference in favor of the solid 

 minion, or 7-iX)int, in respect to legi- 

 bility. 



Headings. 



Careful judgment in regard to head- 

 ings tends to make a catalogue attrac- 

 tive and satisfactory, both for the 

 seedsman and the customer. Though 

 some of the best catalogues use a great 

 variety of type, it is not to be con- 

 sidered good practice any more than it 

 would be thought good practice for a 

 man to wear as many different char- 

 acters of buttons on his clotlies as he 

 bad buttonholes. Uniformity in char- 

 acter of type, emphasis being given by 

 difference in size, leads to the happiest 

 result. 



I cannot but favor, where it may be 

 appropriately used, an ornamental 

 heading to a page, which will serve to 

 give ^t color and character independ- 

 ent of the illustrations, and to dis- 

 tinctly tie it to the individuality of the 

 seedsman. In connection with such a 

 heading and with the various headings 

 and black types used in seed catalogue 

 work, the study of the white spaces is, 

 as I have previously mentioned, of the 

 utmost importance. It is a problem in 

 which the thoughtful printer should 

 work hand in hand with the capable 

 seedsman. 



Paper. 



The subject of paper for catalogues 

 is one upon which there might be 

 much discussion. The free use of half- 

 tones implies a paper which will give 

 reasonably good results from these 

 modern engravings. Such results can 

 only be secured on a smooth and re- 

 ceptive surface, and the need for such 

 a surface can be uiiderstood when you 

 are advised that the depth of relief m 

 the ordinary half-tone engraving is 

 barely one-thousandth of an inch. The 

 peculiar paper known as coated paper, 

 from the fact that its printing surface 

 is given by a coating of finely pulver- 

 ized white clay brushed on in the pro- 

 cess of manufacture, provides the best 

 results. It also increases weight oui 

 of proportion to its thickness, and 

 costs more tlian other papers. Some 

 seed catalogues have been printed 

 alto.sether on coated paper, and more 

 would be if the government treated us 

 fairly in the matter of postage. 



Considering the question impartially, 

 ,1 cannot but feel that the offering of 

 articles of low price, such as ordinary 

 seed quantities, does not justify the in- 

 crease in cost brought about in the 

 complete use of coated paper in many 

 cases. A good quality of super cal- 

 endered paper, by which is meant 

 paper which, coming from the ma- 

 chine, is then passed thrmigh a set of 

 heated rolls which compress and polish 

 it, is the standard for catalogue work. 

 The postage handicap has made it 

 thinner and thinner, until now, in the 

 form of the mis-called "Bible" paper, 

 it is so thin as to be inefiicient, un- 

 pleasant and unsatisfactory. The 

 regular super calendered paper is satis- 

 factory where the engravings have 

 been properly prepared and where the 

 printer understands the use of the 

 hall-tone engravings in connection 

 with a suitable ink. It should not be 

 lighter in any case than a basis of 

 forty pounds to the ream on a size of 

 25x38 inches Even this weight has 

 now been penalized by the paper 

 manufacturers, who have added a 

 higher price because of its thinness 

 and the loss they are compelled to 

 undergo in its manufacture. 

 The Ink. 



Once in a while a seed catalogue 

 comes before me which introduces it- 

 self afar by its odor. I am at once 

 made aware that the printer has been 

 listening to the wiles of the competing 

 ink maker, w ho furnishes for 18 cents 

 a pound an ink which is "just as good" 

 as the 40 c^nt ink upon which the 

 printer's ideas may have been fixed. 

 Just as no one likes to meet a gentle- 

 man ■who announces his presence by 

 strong scents of any kind, no one cares 

 to meet a catalogue which smells to 

 Heaven, or to the other place! Cheap 

 ink is as poor economy as Bible paper, 

 ruid bcth togethei' make a combination 

 which is a long way off from catalogue 

 Heaven! 



All too inadequately, because of the 

 limitations of time, I have discussed 

 the .general construction of the Twen- 

 tieth Century Seed Catalogue. I ex- 

 pect to see it more beautiful and more 

 efliicient, and possibly more expensive. 



Those of us who are familiar with 

 the best catalogue issues of foreign 

 lands must admit that there are yet 

 heights to attain in horticultural sales- 

 manship in America. That we will 

 eventually excel in this as in most of 



DAISY DOUBLE 



Tr. pkt. Oz. 



Giant White 40c $3.0ii 



" nixed 40 2.50 



" Longfellow 30 2.50 



" Snowball 30 2.50 



" nixed 30 2.00 



MYOSOTIS 



Alpestris Victoria very large 



blue 25 .75 



Eliza Fanrobert best for pots 20 .60 

 Oblongata Perfecta long 



stemmed 25 1.25 



Palustris 30 1.50 



Palustris Semper florens — 25 .25 



PANSY 



MICHELL'S GIANT EXHIBITION 



This is the finest strain of pansies in existence 



50c. per trade pkt.; 1-8 oz., $1.00: 



$5.00 per oz. 



NEW STOCK OF 



PRIMULA and CINERARIA 



SEED NOW READY 



I CYCAS REVOLUTA | 



Strong, healthy trunks. 



25 lbs. $2.25 100 lbs. $8.50 



Send for our wholesale price list of 



Bulbs lor Florists 



HENRY F. MICHELL GO. 



IOI8 Market Stre«t 

 PHILADELPHIA - - PA. 



the undertakings of progressive Am- 

 erica, I am sure. 



Consider the Poor Printer. 



May 1 say in conclusion just a few 

 words about and for the poor printer, 

 with whom \ou must deal in regard to 

 catalogue work? With an overturn 

 exceeding half a billion dollars annu- 

 ally in the work he produces, the poor 

 printer has successfully avoided the 

 millionaire class up to date. Indeed, 

 the very best of him collected would 

 have to be bunched in dozens and half 

 dozens to be valued at any such an 

 exalted figure as that which makes the 

 million unit of acquisition in many 

 less important pursuits. Holding the 

 key to all commercial activity, under- 

 lying the learning of the world, fur- 

 nishing an absolute necessity for its 

 progress, he is yet unrewarded by any 

 adequate of commercial profit tor 

 his work. Perhaps he is laying up 

 treasures where moth do not corrupt 

 nor rust destroy! This is a very 

 pleasant thing to contemplate, but few 

 of the seedsmen before me would care 

 to do business upon such a basis; for 

 it is not possible to draw checks on 

 the balance in the Sky Bank! 



Consider his poor situation, in deal- 

 ing with the printer when you ask of 

 him new equipment at competitive 

 prices. He is always willing to buy ,a 

 new press out of last year's profits. If 

 there were any, or out of last year's 

 credit, if he has any, in order to do 

 your catalogue better. He is willing 

 to think for you: to give you without 

 architect's prices, or engineer's fee, or 

 doctor's honorarium, the results of a 

 life of devotion to the art preservative 

 of all arts. Do not ask him too much. 

 Do not press him too hard. Do not 

 squeeze him too tight in the matter of 

 time, delivery, alterations and the 

 other agitations which sometimes 

 make catalogue production a misery. 

 Help the poor printer, and he will 

 help the rich seedsman! 



