PETER HENDERSON & CO. INTRODUCTORY. 



Vegetable Seed Beparti^eF^. 



This, the most important department of a seedsman's business, has always received the most careful 

 attention at our hands. Not only do we exercise a constant and watchful care over our growing seed crops 

 in different sections of the country, but every variety of Vegetable Seeds as it comes to us is tested in our 

 green-houses, and a record taken of the percentage of growth. Afterwards plants of all vegetables are 

 transferred to the open ground, where constant examinations are made to prove their nearness to what we 

 consider the best types. That this practice of seed testing, in which we were the pioneers, and which we 

 persistently follow yea*r after year, should have proved of the greatest value not only to our customers, but 

 to ourselves, the best market gardeners' trade in the United States furnishes an unanswerable reply. 

 Our tests are carried on under the personal supervision of Peter Henderson and the other members of the 

 firm, and ns the author of "Gardening for Profit" has had as long and as varied an experience as most 

 men in operations connected with the soil, it will be seen that we are placed in a position to judge not only as 

 to the germinating qualities, but what is of more importance, the purity of and the kinds of seeds best 

 suited fur gardening purposes. 



A New Feature with us this season is the adoption of a trade 

 mark, of which the illustration herewith is a reproduction. This label will 

 be found on every package, large and small, of Vegetable Seeds ordered 

 from this catalogue, beginning with 1886. It will be printed on red paper,. 

 with black ink, and will in most cases be affixed over the lip on the back 

 of packages. 



We have been reluctantly forced to protect ourselves in this way because 

 of the many complaints made to us by buyers, where unscrupulous dealers 

 have foisted on them other seeds, under the mantle of our hard earned 

 reputation. 



About Warranting Seeds.- — The question is repeatedly asked us if we guarantee or 

 warrant Seeds. We beq to state most emphatically that we do not, and our employees have strict orders 

 never to do so in any case. Tnough well believing that the seeds we ofl'er are unsurpassed in quality, yet- 

 our practical experience of many years as Market Gardeners and Florists has fully assured us of the fact 

 that crops may fail, no matter how fresh or pure the seed sown to produce them may be. Failure of 

 germination of seed may result from causes that the utmost care from the most experienced cultivators cannot, 

 control, and the maturing of crops also repeatedly fails, so as to be a total loss, from causes that no human 

 power can avert. Hence, to guarantee Seeds to invariably produce a perfect crop would be little short 

 of quackery. 



Novelties ill Seeds have always been a prominent feature with us, and we can look back 

 with considerab.e satisfaction, and see how large a proportion have become permanent additions to existing 

 lists, both in this country and in Europe. It will be seen we make two classifications of Novelties and 

 Specialties iu Vegetable Seeds, the first comprising only such varieties as we ofl'er this year for the first 

 time. In the second division will be found Novelties of last season, as well as Specialties of our own„ 

 whose great value justify us in calling attention to them repeatedly. 



Bam Seed BepaFfeme^t 



We have been so long identified with the various branches of garden operations, that it seems natural 

 enough that we should now invade the domain of the Farm, for while our practical experience has been 

 confined more strictly to Horticulture, yet as the operations of the Farm and Garden are iu so many ways; 

 akin, we believe our veteran experience in the one field gives us some right to speak in the other. The same 

 methods which we have used successfully in our Garden seed trade, we propose to use in the larger 

 field of Farm s eds. These are briefly: 



ist. The practical testing of all cereals, grass and root crop seeds before selling, and the offering 

 of only the best and cleanest .-amp es to be obtained. 



2d. The experimenting wit i <>f new varieties as they appear, and the retention of such only as are 

 likely to prove of universal value. 



In this connection it will n >t be out of place to call attention to the announcement elsewhere in the 

 catalogue of the new book on A ifirican Fannin- written by Wi ja n Crozier and Peter Henderson, 

 entitled. "How tiie Farm P In our announcement e h v n in full the table of contents 



which will show how thoroug n 'tt°rs hnv '<■'■' 



