27 



knows better what his customers want than they know them- 

 selves. 



Many orders are made up largely of new varieties, the parties 

 giving them having been in the small-fruit business for years, 

 and possibly may have grown more plants than the dealer ever 

 saw. He wishes to keep up with the times by testing every- 

 thing new, and gives his order for one thousand of the Ne 2)lus 

 ultra. The dealer is short of that variety, and sends as a sub- 

 stitute the Big Booby (named for the originator, and badly 

 mixed), that being a bit of a drug on his hands, but, in his esti- 

 mation, just the thing to "fill the bill." The would-be pur- 

 chaser may have already tested the substitute, and be on the 

 point of plowing under an acre or two of that variety, having 

 found it perfectly worthless. 



But, says the plant man, "It should be stated in the order, 

 therefore, if it is desired that this should not be done," or, in 

 other words, place at the top, bottom, and sides of your order 

 this caution : N. B. Please do not substitute the old choke 

 pear for the Seckel, nor the common field strawberry for the 

 Sharpless. 



The catalogue from which the last extract was made contains 

 this very proper announcement : " We would be pleased to see 

 our customers and others at any time, except on the SABBATH : 

 on that day there will be no admittance to our grounds, and no 

 business transacted" from which we may fairly infer that the 

 author is not only a conscientious but also a pious man. When, 

 however, we ask of this man bread, he claims a right to give us 

 a stone ; or if we ask a fish, he is ready to give us a serpent. 



No man has either a legal or moral right to fill an order, ex- 

 cept by following it literally ; and the better way is, where any 

 deviation is made, to reship the plants at once. 



OVER-PRAISED FRUITS. 



There is often a war of words among fruit-growers relative 

 to the quality of different fruits, and as to the rank to which 

 each is entitled. This is sometimes the result of prejudice, or 

 an interest which different parties may have in pushing the sale 

 of a new variety. The entire stock of " a new thing " is often 

 purchased by an enterprising dealer in plants at an extravagant 



