PETER HENDERSON & CO.— INTRODUCTORY. 



-+STM SOMEWHAT TOODOGTORY.^ 



In common with most of the trade, we have for years prefaced every annual issue of our catalogues with introductory remarks. To our» 

 selves there is, perhaps, no portion quite so unsatisfactory as these opening pages, because having already stated the special advantages 

 as seedsmen and florists we unquestionably possess, every repetition seems to be merely an annual effort to tell an old story in a new way. 

 Were we less progressive and content to rest on the steady patronage of those who have followed our business banner for so many years, 

 all this would be unnecessary, but as this season we expect to distribute 150,000 copies of this catalogue among people who bare H0T«T 

 "before dealt with U, the reason why we keep ringing the changes on our peculiar advantages becomes quickly apparent. And so in 

 addition to the potential reasons given on the preceding page we beg to call the special attention of those who have not before dealt 

 ■with us to a few more reasons why we believe they will find it greatly to their advantage to place their orders with us. 



OUR RED 



SEEDS HI SEALED PACKAGES. 



Nearly all of the better class of seed houses are now adopting 

 our system of sending out seeds in 6ealed packages. We are 

 pleased to see this, as it endorses and strengthens the position which 

 we have maintained for years, that in no article of commerce is it 

 so important that this safeguard be adopted as it is in the case of 

 vegetable seeds, for the reason that the purchaser has to rely entirely 

 on the name and reputation of the 6eedsman from whom he buys. 



TMe flfai^ 



LtABELx, 



Every package, large or small, of vegetable seeds sent direct 

 from our establishment, is so sealed, and as we now supply our job- 

 bing trade with our seeds put up in this manner, you will be per- 

 fectly 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 

 unscrupulous dealers foist a cheap and inferior-article on purchasers 

 under the name of "Henderson's Seeds." All this can be avoided 

 by insisting that every package you buy bears our RED TRADE 

 MARK LABEL, which we here illustrate. 



SEED + TESTING.; 



The practice which we inau- 

 gurated years ago of testing be- 

 fore selling all .seeds, both for 

 germination and purity of stock, 

 is now imitated by nearly every 

 seed house in this country. But 

 we claim, as pioneers in this, a 

 system possessed by no other 

 dealer. The usual custom is to 

 sprout seeds on damp cotton or 

 paper; by this unnatural method 

 a high and misleading percent- 

 age of growth is obtained, which 

 is not borne out in practical 

 tests. Our method is to sow the 

 seeds in old mother earth, thus 

 arriving at the actual percent- 

 age the seeds will grow. This 

 can only be done in a greenhouse 

 establishment such as ours, 

 where we have houses kept at 

 the various temperatures re- 

 quired by the nature of the seed. 

 Beans. Egg Plants, Cucumbers 

 and other seeds requiring a high 

 temperature cannot be properly 

 tested in the same house with 

 Cabbage, Peas, Celery and other 

 seed of like nature, and vice 

 rersa. Our greenhouses cover 

 over four acres of glass, graded, 

 some from a few degrees above 

 freezing, to others that are kept 

 at a tropical heat in the coldest 



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, be- 

 cause our practical experience 

 of many years as market gar- 

 deners and florists has fully 

 assured us of the fact that crops 

 may fail, no matter how fresh 

 or pure the seed sown to pro- 

 duce them may be. The failure 

 of seed to germinate may result 

 from causes that the utmost 

 care of the most experienced 

 cultivators cannot control, and 

 the maturing of crops also re- 

 peatedly fails, so as to be a 

 total loss, from causes that no 

 human being can avert. Hence, 

 to guarantee seeds to invariably 

 produce a perfect crou, is little 

 short of quackery. And while 

 we are justified in believing 

 that the seeds we offer are un- 

 surpassed in quality, still, for 

 the reasons above given.we have 

 always 6tated most emphat- 

 ically that we do not (and our 

 employees also have strict or- 

 ders never to do so), under any 

 circumstances, guarantee or 

 warrant seeds. 



