My FREE DISTRIBUTION 
OF 
VALUABLE BOOKS 
AMONG THE BUYERS OF 
MAULE’S SEEDS. 
Last year [ arranged for a distribution of books among . 
my customers, which proved a very successful undertaking. 
I selected them for a special purpose, that purpose being to 
help my customers in their farming and gardening opera- 
tions. This experience was so successful that I have decided 
to make a somewhat similar distribution this year. A long 
experience has convinced me that the successful farmer and 
gardener is the seedsman’s best customer; in fact, the very 
foundation of his business. Good farming and good seeds are 
twins, and the better farmers and gardeners my customers 
are, the more sure I am of their continued custom and the 
larger that custom will be. Hence, I have to be interested in 
the success of my customers; interested in their getting the 
very best results from Maule’s seeds which skill and industry 
ean secure. I undertook the publication of Greiner’s “How 
to Make the Garden Pay” with this end wholly in view; have 
recommended Terry's “Our Farming” for the same rea- 
son, and this year add Prof. Massey’s new book to the list. 
Similarly I have induced thousands of my customers to sub- 
scribe for “‘The Practical Farmer,” being fully convinced that 
the study of such an advanced and practical farm paper 
would result in better things along the whole line of farm 
and garden products. I have the satisfaction of knowing 
that thousands of my customers are regular readers of “The 
Practical Farmer’ and are thoroughly acquainted with the 
three works mentioned. Continuing along these lines this 
year, I propose to give my customers six of the works I 
offered last year, with the addition of two others, making 
eight in all. I believe these books are the most unique, in- 
teresting and original publications ever offered to the Ameri- 
ean farmer and gardener. Their good wives have not been 
forgotten either. The cost of compiling and publishing 
these books has preved a very expensive undertaking. In 
most of them the original manuscripts, before a line was put 
into type, cost over two thousand dollars for each book, so 
that some idea may be formed of the determination of the 
publishers to make them the best for their purpose which 
money could procure. You can have one, two, or all of them. 
The whole series, I believe, makes; the best and most com- 
plete Farmers’ Home Library ever published. Here they are: 
The Garden Book. Vol. I. 
By T. Greiner. 
One of the most notable books of the year from the stand- 
point of the gardener—and farmer as well—is ““‘The Garden 
Book,” the latest production of the pen of Mr. T. Greiner. 
We premise our notice of the book by saying that Mr. Greiner 
is the recognized authority on gardening matters in this 
country. It has been his life business. He has the enthusi- 
asm of a beginner and the ripened experience of a veteran. 
Years of persistent research into the mysteries of nature has 
yielded him rich rewards. The investigations and suc¢éessful 
experiments which he has pursued with indomitable perse- 
verance are crowded into these two volumes, his latest work. 
The twelve chapters of Vol. I are grouped under the head 
of “Garden Philosophy,’ a most apt title, for Mr. 
Greiner weaves into all his writings a vein of philosophical 
thought which charms away any taint of dryness which 
might be aroused by the suspicion that it is a mere text 
book. And yet it is a text book, because it goes down to the 
foundation of things pertaining to the subject which he dis- 
cusses. One chapter tells the size of the garden, gives plans 
for large ones and small ones; tells about the ideal site and 
how to make the best out of what the gardener or farmer may 
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happen to have; the author’s own garden at La Salle, N. Y. 
-is described and a plat of it printed. Plans for the laying out 
of sites to the best advantage are given, and a warnin 
sounded against selecting land stocked with certain foul 
weeds. Another chapter describes and illustrates garden 2 
tools, together with simple home-made labor-saving devices to. 
lighten the common drudgery and hasten results. How shall & 
_the garden be fed is the substance of another chapter. RA 
' Stable manure, humus, clover and chemicals, and the most 7 
efiicient ways of using manures are exhaustively discussed. 4 
Hotbeds and cold frames with other appliances for winter 
gardening and the starting of early plants fill another chap 
ter, the subject being treated from the standpoint of the aver 
age gardener as well as commercial trucker. The proble 
of the garden’s drink is an important one, and hence th 
chapter devoted to it is particularly full. Irrigation, pump 
ing, hauling water, mulching, tillage, shading, ete., each re 
ceive attention. Numerous devices for putting the seeds int 
the soil, as well as the preparation of the soil to receive them 
are given. A very full exposition is made of the warfar 
against the bird, insect and fungus enemies of the garden. 
good deal of information is given relative to the bird frien 
and enemies of the gardener and some misapprehensions o 
the subject cleared up. The different ways of dealing w 
insect and fungus enemies are explained. Sprayers an 
spraying devices, powder guns, vermicides, and how best and 
most effectively to use them. In these days eternal vigilance 
is the price of good fruits and vegetables, and the instruc- 
tions contained in the two chapters devoted to the subject 
are indispensable to him who would make his mark as a suc- 
cessful gardener. The final chapter is devoted to transplant- 
ing, protecting plants from frost, shading newly set plants, 
weather signs, etc. By the way, a good deal of needed infor- 
mation is condensed into the latter item. The book is pro- 
fusely and handsomely illustrated, adding very much to the 
clearness and value of the text. It is plainly printed, on 
‘good paper, and substantially bound. Price, 50c., postpaid.. 
The Garden Book. Vol. II. 2 , 
By T. Greiner. bie 
In Volume 2 of the Garden Book, Mr. Greiner takes up in 
detail the work of the gardener. In Vol. 1 general instruc: 
tions were given, general principles cited and explained and 
the general knowledge essential to the production of fruits 
and vegetables elucidated. Vol. 2 is divided into twelve chap- 
ters, each chapter giving in detail the practical work of the 
gardener for each month in the year, beginning with January 
and ending with December. The work is written more par- 
ticularly for the northern half of the United States, but after 
allowing for the difference in the seasons between the North 
and South and East and West, is applicable to all sections oe 
the country. 
In a breezy, bright way the author enrens up every 
detail of the year’s work. We have never before read a book 
in which the garden work.is so minutely and accurately de- 
scribed, and yet without the suspicion of dryness attaching to* 
it. Mr. Greiner is a lover of his vocation, and he presents it | | 
in such an enjoyable fashion that those who read this book . 
cannot help but be affected by his enthusiasm. The book, as | 
is Vol. 1, is handsomely illustrated, and the value is enhancet ‘| 
thereby. ‘The type is clear, the paper good, and the bindin; 
durable. We consider it by all odds the most practical wor 
on gardening ever published. Price, 50 cents, postpaid. — 
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