AMERICAN SEED CATALOGUES 



anthemum called by the lugubriously suggestive 

 name of Early Frost. Why thus gratuitously 

 dampen our gardening spirits? The small cata- 

 logue is in most excellent taste, and may be said 

 to prove this point — that a good list in black 

 and white is far more acceptable than a poor one 

 in color. Conard & Jones's is as colorful a cata- 

 logue as one may find; but the color of the great 

 roses therein set forth seems to me to be particu- 

 larly adequate, and their list is not only an all- 

 embracing one but reliable. The wonderful new 

 colors and types of cannas evolved by Antoine 

 Wintzer, connected with this firm, are known the 

 world over; alas, that the Department of Agricul- 

 ture in Washington should yearly set forth, to this 

 day, the abominable example of the round beds 

 filled with cannas and edged with geraniums, as 

 shown in this book. 



The dahlia is a flower which is not now languish- 

 ing for want of attention. Otis P. Chapman, of 

 Westerly, Rhode Island, issues a restricted list of 

 exceedingly fine varieties; but the apogee of dahlia 

 publications is certainly reached in the book of the 

 Peacock Dahlia Farms, of Berlin, New Jersey, 

 which bears upon its cover the modest legend, 

 "The World's Best Dahlias." An excellent repre- 



