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2 PETER HENDERSON & CO.—INTRODUCTORY. ‘ 
“TESTED: SEEPS 7> 
“Tee practice which we inaugurated years ago of 
testing before selling all seeds, both for germin- 
ation and purity of stock, is now imitated by nearly 
every seed house in this country. 
pioneers in this, a system possessed by no other 
dealer. The usual cus- 
tom is to sprout seeds on 
damp cotton or paper; 
by this unnatural method 
a high and misleading 
percentage of growth is 
obtained, which is not 
borne out in practical 
tests. Our method is to 
sow the seeds in old 
mother earth, thus arriv- 
ing at the actual percent- 
age the seeds will grow. 
This can only be done in 
a green-house establish- 
But we claim, as 
While we plume ourselves on the fact that of the 
very few firms who test their seeds, the methods we 
practice are more complete and thorough than any, yet 
the results we obtain are not always conclusive, because 
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. 
The failure of seed to 
germinate may result 
trom causes that the ut- 
most care of the most 
experienced cultivators 
cannot control, and the 
maturing of crops also 
repeatedly fails, so as to 
beatotal loss, from causes 
ment such as ours, where 
we have houses kept at 
the various temperatures 
required by the nature of 
the seed. Beans, Egg 
Plants, Cucumbers and 
other seeds requiring a 
high temperature cannot 
be properly tested in the unsurpassed in quality, 
same house with Cabbage, Peas, Celery and other seed | still, for the reasons above given, we have always 
of like nature, and vce versa. Our green-houses cover | stated most emphatically that we do not (and our 
over four acres of glass, graded, some from a few | employees also have strict orders never to do 
degrees above freezing, to others that are kept at a | so), under any circumstances, guarantee or war- 
tropical heat in the coldest weather. rant seeds. 
that no human being can 
avert. Hence, to guaran- 
tee seeds to invariably 
produce a perfect crop, 
is little short of quack- 
ery. And while we are 
justified in believing that 
the seeds we offer are 
PARTIAL VIEW OF OUR GREEN-HOUSES AND TRIAL GROUNDS IN JERSEY CITY. 
Every year demonstrates more clearly the vital necessity of purchasers demanding 
our vegetable seeds in sealed packages. It is the only absolute guarantee that you are 
getting Henderson’s Tested Seeds. Every package, large or small, of vegetable 
seeds sent direct from our establishment, is so sealed, and as we now supply our jobbing 
trade with our seeds put up in this manner, you will be perfectly justified in refusing any 
package of seed not bearing this trade mark. We have been reluctantly forced to adopt 
this method for our mutual protection, as every season we have cases where unscrupu- 
lous dealers foist a cheap and inferior article on purchasers under the name of “ Hen- 
derson’s Seeds.” All this can be avoided by insisting that every package you buy 
bears our RED TRADE MARK LABEL, which we here illustrate, and which is shown in 
colors on the back cover of this Catalogue. 
+ + NOVELTIES OF ThE Season 
We would particularly call the attention of our customers to the long array of splendid novelties which 
we offer this season. Each has been carefully tested during the past summer, and the various characteristics 
have been carefully noted by competent experts. In describing our novelties, we endeavor to detail their 
points of merit and distinctiveness in plain words and without exaggeration. ‘ 
We would invite special attention to the mew ‘Tomato offered on page 4, for which we offer a prize of 
two hundred and fifty dollars ($250.00) for the best and most descriptive name. Aside from this 
opportunity of procuring this sum of money. we would state that this variety will be a surprise to every one 
who grows it, as it exceeds in size and weight any known Tomato. 
The LATE PURITAN Potato will commend itself to any one who has ever grown the Early Puritan, 
as it is identical with that splendid sort in shape and quality, but is a later variety, and yields nearly double 
the quantity per acre, 
