A GARDEN NOTE-BOOK 



not believe ? As for me, it would be a bitter Jan- 

 uary indeed which did not produce the too gay 

 cover of Vaughan's list, the sober livery of Dreer's, 

 never better-looking than in 1916, the semi-deco- 

 ration of Farquhar's. But, to take an original 

 view of the question, my seed lists, as they lie in 

 piles upon my table, how ugly they look ! If I 

 were not aware of the fact that competing seeds- 

 men are not always the best of friends, I should 

 suggest that a color-consultation be held in the 

 simamer of the men of each firm who make the 

 issuing of the catalogue their peculiar business. 

 Think what shelves of harmonious color we should 

 then have as the year began; each firm to adopt a 

 uniform binding, harmonious with his rival's, and 

 not to depart from it with successive years ! 



For the business which concerns us here a com- 

 parison, a critical examination of the seed lists of 

 our coimtry, division into rough groups seems to 

 be convenient. First, catalogues of general im- 

 portance, such as those of Dreer, Farquhar, 

 Vaughan, the Palisades Nurseries, and so on. I 

 will ask you to remember that the order in which 

 I shall take these means nothing — they will be 

 mentioned in a quite haphazard manner within 

 their respective group arrangements. Let us take 



214 



