44 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



plants have come about through not knowing the proper kinds to 

 use; to attain resuks one must know which are best suited for the 

 effects that are desired. 



Importance of Good Seed. 



In my opinion it is ahvays best to buy the very best strains of 

 seed obtainable, even if they cost more. There is less work and 

 care with good fresh seed than there is with cheap unreliable kinds. 

 The cheap seed needs as much care and attention as good seed 

 does, and never gives as good results. No doubt you have all 

 noticed in spring when the weather begins to get warm and when 

 man begins to think he ought to get back to the soil, how quickly 

 seed stores multiply; they grow up like mushrooms. At that 

 time you will see displayed in the windows of druggists, grocers, 

 bakers and such places, boxes of annuals with pictures of flowers 

 of the most brilliant colors imaginable. If anyone wants to get 

 results my advice would be to shun these places and buy seeds from 

 reputable seedsmen who have made a life study of the seed busi- 

 ness. They can't afford to sell you unreliable seeds. 



Many of the annual seeds lose their germinating power much 

 earlier than other seeds, therefore it is very important that they 

 have been freshly collected the previous year. The cheaper the 

 strains the more plants you will get. From the finer and more 

 expensive strains fewer plants are obtained but one gets quality 

 against quantity. Some of you will be surprised to know that in 

 France and Germany some of the growers of fine strains of pansy 

 seed sell their products weight for weight, that is one ounce of pansy 

 seed for one ounce of gold. So it is easily seen from this that fine 

 strains of seed are "worth their weight in gold." 



Cultivation of Annuals. 



There are no plants easier to grow than annuals, but the ease of 

 culture has got many people into the habit of growing them in a 

 haphazard way and often they do not get the attention they deserve. 

 To get good results we have to give them just as good care as we give 



