DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE. 3 



with half the crop on the vines. It takes but a few such lessons to teach the wide awake gardener 

 to look eagerly for the annual descriptions of the stocks offered for sale, that he may select the 

 sorts best suited to his wants. 



Still a third reason for a fresh and inviting annual catalogue grows out of the desire of the 

 seedsman to avoid most unjust and unreasonable complaints that are frequently made agamst him. 

 We have said that the character of the product is to a great extent determmed by the seed used. 

 This is true, and we have no desire to escape the responsibility which this places upon the seeds- 

 man, but it is also true that under unfavorable conditions the best of seed may fail to grow, or 

 give comparatively poor results, and that a large proportion of the purchasers of gaiden seeds are 

 ignorant of what constitutes suitable soil for, how, and when to plant, and what kind of culture the 

 different sorts require. It could not be otherwise than that frequent failures should result from 

 this cause ; failures for which the seedsman is in no wise responsible, but which are too frequently 

 laid at his door ; and we aim to give in the following pages such clear and easily understood direc- 

 tions for culture that such failures need not occur. We send you this catalogue then not as an 

 advertisement simply, but with the honest purpose ; 



First — Of calling your attention to our earnest desire and endeavor to secure the best seeds; 

 our facilities for doing this surely and economically, and consequent ability to offer you the clioic- 

 est seeds at the lowest prices. 



Second. — To give accurate and truthful descriptions of the varieties and stocks we have to 

 offer, to aid you in selecting those best suited to your wants ; and lastly to give such directions 

 for the culture of each sort, that any one following them may be reasonably sure of success. 

 MOW OUll ^EEO^ ARE OJEIOAVJV. 



There are certain seeds which lose their vitality after being kept but a short time, and others 

 which do not produce seed until the second season, and in which the character of the first sum- 

 mer's growth has a marked influence upon the value of the product. Such seeds we aim to pro- 

 duce upon 



OXJTt 0I1EE]VEIE:LT> SEET> FJ^DEllMJS. 



These are located near Detroit, and extend one and a quarter miles on Grand River Avenue 

 in one direction and one mile on the Joy Road in another, the entire area of which has been thor- 

 oughly underdrained, and is annually enriched, not only with stable manure from the city, but with 

 large quantities of composted blood, meat and bone from the packing houses. These farms have 

 been pronounced by competent observers to be among the best cultivated fields in America ; how- 

 ever this may be, we are certain that from them we get large crops of the finest quality, and that 

 seemingly independent of the season. We have never failed of a fair crop, even in those years 

 when failure was almost universal, and we are unable to buy seed at all equal to that we grow 

 upon these farms. This result we attribute to thorough drainage, liberal and judicious manuring, 

 careful and frequent cultivation, and general good management rather than to particularly favora- 

 ble soil or climate. There are other sorts of seeds which not only cannot be grown profitably in 

 this section, but are of much better quality when grown in more congenial soil and climate. Such 

 seeds are grown for us under 



COIVTHACTS WITH EXI>EIiIEIVCEI> GROWERIS;. 



There is no subject connected with agriculture upon which the public are more ignorant than 

 that of seed growing. Many farmers who are successful with the common field crops think they 

 could make a fortune in growing garden seeds if they only had the opportunity. Among the 

 many who annually apply to us for contracts, we occasionally find a man whose soil and climate 

 is well adapted to a certain crop, and whose unusual success in farming warrants us in believing he 

 would succeed in seed growing. We furnish him with stock, and in frequent visits and by cor- 

 respondence, endeavor to give him all the aid in our power, but it is rarely the case that he returns 

 us a first-class article or cultivates the crop to a profit, until he has had several years t perience. 

 We do not hesitate to say that there is no department of agriculture which demands mor- general 

 and especial skill, and where experience is more essential to success than in seed growing. Most 

 of our seeds are grown for us by men who have devoted the greater part of their lives to some 

 especial crop like Sweet Corn, Peas or Melons, for which their soil and climate is well suited. To 

 such men we furnish the finest procurable stock seed, and by frequent visits and careful inspec ion 

 of the growing crop and their methods of handling them, we endeavor to maintain in such sec Is 

 the same high degree of excellence we secure on our own farms. In this work we derive materi; I 

 aid from 



