THE OPENING YEAR 



Can he economise in seeds without running serious risk Jan. 

 of his garden becoming a wilderness of noxious weeds ? 

 The answer to these questions is : Yes, provided he is 

 satisfied with standard varieties of the different kinds of 

 vegetables and flowers. There are certain sorts of Peas, 

 Beans, Lettuces, Sweet Peas, annual Phloxes, Asters, 

 Stocks, and so forth which are in such constant demand 

 that it pays wholesale dealers to grow them largely and 

 sell them cheaply to retail seedsmen. Even small pro- 

 vincial representatives of the latter class can be relied 

 upon, as a general rule, to supply seeds of standard sorts 

 true to type, fresh, and of good germinating power. 



The large seed houses, whose trial grounds are seen, 

 radiant with bloom, from the railway carriages on many 

 lines, and whose catalogues are almost worthy of being 

 described as works of art, have specialities of their own, 

 often superior to the standard sorts. These cannot be 

 bought at low prices. 



How to Select Seeds. — That happy being who is 

 sufficiently well off to be able to select any kind of 

 plants that he wants may choose from the specialities of 

 the best seed houses with the certainty of getting grati- 

 fying results, but those whose means are limited, and 

 who are compelled to buy cheaply, will be well advised to 

 order standard sorts. Of course, the big seedsmen will 

 supply these as well as the little one, and though his 

 prices will be higher, they will probably be lower than 

 for his own specialities. 



I cannot but think that there are many beginners in 

 gardening who find a serious initial difficulty in choosing 

 seeds, and I have therefore begun by preparing a few 

 tables, with a view to assisting in the task of making out 

 a seed order. 



