There is no country in the world where horticulture, in its vegetable and floral departments 

 at least, is so universally popular as in this. It is true that the European countries, with their 

 vast estates which have been the pride of titled families for centuries, can show much finer 

 ■examples of elaborate gardening than we can, but nowhere do the people take so much interest 

 in it ; nowhere is the home garden, the pride and delight of the whole family, so common as 

 here. 



We do not look far for reasons for this. We find one in the physical character of the coun- 

 tn,- itself. Nowhere else within the temperate zone is there a region of equal extent which 

 rivals it in productiveness. This is an old boast, but one which is being justified every year. 

 The enormous crops of wheat of the finest quality which have been produced for the past few 

 years in our new northwest, attracting the attention of the whole v.'orld, and the ample rewards 

 from increased agricultural activity in the southwest, are showing that the productive area of our 

 country is even greater than had been claimed. The whole South, aroused to the importance of 

 developing her exceedingly rich agricultural resources, is showing that not only " King Cotton," 

 but many other valuable sub-tropical plants find there their most congenial home. The vast 

 prairies of the west, under improved culture, are demonstrating that their early promises of 

 boundless and inexhaustible fertility were not in vain, while over all there rules a climate, which, 

 from the cool, perpetual spring of Minnesota to the tropical, yet balmy, heat of Florida, is mar- 

 velously favorable for the development to the highest perfection of the flora of each section. 

 The possibilities of our soil and climate in the production of beautiful flowers, fine vegetables 

 and lucious fruits are nowhere equaled. 



Our country is pre-eminently one of homes and homes of the people. Our ancestors insisted 

 that this should be a land where any one might secure a home which he should hold not as a 

 vassal, a tenant, but as a freeholder ; and the whisper has gone across the Atlantic that 

 in this rich country- there are homes waiting for all. The intelligent artisans of Europe 

 have left country, friends, everything, and have flocked here by thousands to secure that of 

 which "Be it ever so humble " we all love to sing of as " The dearest spot on earth to me." It 

 could not be otherwise than that these home-builders, tempted by the beauty of the natural flora 

 and the ease with which the finest fruits and vegetables are here produced, should early plan for 

 and plant their garden, nor that they should soon acquire a high degree of horticultural skill ; so 

 it is not strange that many a cottage table is loaded with vegetable luxuries that would excite the 

 envy of a titled epicure of the old world, nor that many a cottage mantel should be decked with 

 flowers that would grace a palace. 



The intense interest in "my garden," and the keen spirit of rivalr}' have made our people 

 quick to see and eager to avail themselves of ever}nhing that would aid them in this work. One 

 of the earliest things learned is that good seed is the basis, the foundation stone of success in 

 gardening ; hence, the earnest desire on the part of all gardeners to secure not only the best 

 variety but the purest possible stock of that variety. Indeed, to those who depend on their gar- 

 dens for a living, this is of vital importance ; for no matter how good a cultivator or how diligent 

 he may be, the market gardener knows that all his efforts will be in vain and his labor unre- 

 munerative if a neighbor, from having an earlier variety, is able to slip into market a day or two 

 ahead of him, or from the smaller cost of harvesting a crop from pure seed, is enabled to under- 

 sell him there. The amateur knows that he cannot hope to win the honors of the exhibition 

 hall or the reputation of having " The finest garden on the street," without the best of seeds. 



How and where shall he get them ? Shall he grow them ? 



