STOKES' STANDARD SEEDS FOR 1913 



Tested for Productiveness, and Better Than Ever! 



WANT to thank all of you 

 for your continued patron- 

 age, and for your many 

 friendly letters expressing 

 your delight with the re- 

 sults secured from my seeds. 

 I am especially pleased 

 with your continued marks 

 of appro\'al for my Bonn\- 

 Best Tomato. ^lore than two hundred 

 of you have written in praise of it this 

 past year — many tell me that "I didn't 

 say half enough about it." 



Vou will notice that this 3'ear I have 

 cut out many varieties of seeds that had 

 been listed for years. I want to tell you 

 why I did it. I test at Floracroft, and 

 elsewhere, nearly all the seeds grown for 

 me, and I have found that some of the 

 varieties are so far behind others in pro- 

 ducti^•eness and quality that they are 

 not worth growing. Whenever any kind 

 has shown itself inferior, I have dis- 

 carded it. Then, too, I found certain 

 varieties so similar to others that I 

 could hardly tell them apart, so I dis- 

 carded all except the best. 



The result is that I offer you only 

 seeds that I know are the best that can 

 be had. They are seeds that I have 

 tested myself — seeds that will produce : 

 the crops that will make you happy. 



About Novelties. Several hundred of 

 these are introduced ever>' year. Few of 



them are really new or valuable. To prove this, look over 

 the catalogues of ten years ago and see how many of the 

 Novelties listed there are being sold now. I offer a few Novel- 

 ties, but I refuse to class any variety as a Novelty unless it is 

 a marked improvement over old kinds. I don't think it right 

 to charge a big price for something just because it is a little 

 "different." My Novelties are not listed separately, but are 

 put in the body of the book, where you can find them easily 

 and compare them with standard kinds. 

 A Novelty is indicated by this hand: 



Specialties. These are selected strains of varieties that 1 bank 

 on and pay particular attention to. There are many kinds of 

 seeds that I have grown especially well and that I am improving 

 every year. The stock has tc be pretty near perfection, and a 

 lot better than it has been in the past, before I make it a Specialty. 

 .Market-gardeners, who know good seeds better than most people, 

 and who could, if they desired, grow good seeds themselves, buy 

 my Specialties in great quantities year after year. Remember 

 that a Stokes' Specialty is particularh' good, selected stock — the 



noveltyI 



finest that I can have grown. If you are 

 hesitating between a Novelty and a 

 Specialtv, take the Specialt\-. It is indi- 



TaS ^'"^ mSPECIALfY] 



Stokes' Standards. A great many of 

 my customers, as far back as 1906, have 

 been in the habit of ordering seeds of dif- 

 ferent kinds and asking me to select the 

 varieties. I appreciated the confidence 

 these friends put in me, and determined to 

 give them just as good stock as I knew 

 how. The number ordering in this way 

 increased every year, so I selected reli- 

 able, productive strains as "Stokes' Stan- 

 dards." These I have improved every 

 year. The Stokes' Standards make it easy 

 to order: all you need do is to order 

 "Stokes' Standard" in Early Peas, Late 

 Peas, Onions, etc., right through the list, 

 and you will get sorts that will please 

 you. Stokes' Standards are indicated by 



^.ly.'^^ii gSTOKEy STAN DARDi 



My Descriptions. I try to be perfectly 

 honest in these. Sometimes I get 

 enthusiastic about something and want 

 to write a glowing account of it. Instead 

 of doing it th^n, I go to see the crops on 

 other places, and see what those growers 

 say about it. When I'm through, I 

 may not list the thing at all. Most of 

 the photographs in this book I took 

 myself; they show the true types. 

 Promptness in Filling Orders. I make a special effort to ship 

 or mail seeds promptly. Nearly every order goes out within 

 twent>'-four hours after its receipt. 



Satisfaction Assured. I want you to have courteous and 

 liberal treatment and the best possible service. Should you 

 find anything unsatisfactory, I trust you will not hesitate to 

 let me know it, so I can adjust the matter to your satisfaction. I 

 know you cannot get better seeds or better treatment anywhere. 



All Seeds Tested. In my endeavor to give my customers 

 the best seeds that can be had, I test all my seeds for germination, 

 rejecting all that fail to come up to my standard. I also grow 

 hundreds of varieties of seeds in my trial-grounds at Floracroft, 

 Moorestown, N. J. Below are shown pictures of field-tests at 

 Floracroft, where I also have 60,000 square feet under glass. 

 Yours for the best garden on earth, 



WALTER P. STOKES 



January 1, 1913 



Philadelphia, Pa. 



Forty varieties of Lettuce on test at Floracroft 



Examining types of vegetables at Floracroft 



